Tag: Harlequin Kiss

Guest Review: For His Eyes Only by Liz Fielding

Posted March 3, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: For His Eyes Only by Liz FieldingReviewer: Tracy
For His Eyes Only by Liz Fielding
Publisher: Harlequin Kiss
Publication Date: February 25, 2014
Format: eARC
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars

“It’s your body that I want to draw, not your clothes.”

Well, that’s what she was afraid of! Hardworking estate agent Natasha Gordon finds her reputation in tatters when an ad she created gets bungled. She’ll do anything to restore her good name–even beg seriously sexy artist Darius Hadley to give her another chance to sell his ancestral home. Only, he drives a hard bargain: Natasha must pose naked, for his eyes only…!

He’s asking Natasha to take him on trust. But she’s learned the hard way not to trust men–particularly those she’s working with…and let alone men she’s taking her clothes off for!

Darius’s next outrageous statement? “I will, too–if it will make it easier for you….”

Tasha Gordon is a wonderful real estate agent and is moving up in her career on a daily basis. She has no life, but the life she does have she absolutely loves. Then one day she’s called into her bosses office. She believes that she’s about to get the partnership in the business that she’s been working towards. Instead she gets read the riot act by her boss because of an ad for a house she’s selling. The ad that she wrote tells about the wonderful aspects of the house but the one that was printed tells those and all of the things that are wrong with the house. She was sabotaged, she’s sure but that doesn’t stop her. She may not have a job any longer but she’s not about to sit around and have her career go down the toilet. She contacts the owner of the house, who she lusts after, with a proposition for selling the house for no fee.

Darius is an artist who just wants his family estate sold. He wants nothing to do with the home he grew up in as it holds both good and bad memories. He accepts Tasha’s proposition but only if he lets her draw her nude. She accepts and they go about trying to sell the house (that really does have some issues). While they are in the process of the sale they get to know each other better and eventually come to love each other.

This is my first book by Liz Fielding but I have a feeling it won’t be my last. I really liked so many things about this book.

First off I loved that Darius and Tasha, even though they lusted after each other, really didn’t get along that well at first. They were butting heads but still working together – well, and trying to keep their hands off of each other – and doing well with it all.

Darius has issues centered around the house and his family that surfaced because of the sale of the house. He dealt with them in his own way and I loved that Tasha, just being the lovely person she was, helped him through it all.

The story just flowed so well until almost the end of the book. They were together and falling in love and then Darius had second thoughts. That I understood, but after that it seemed that things got disconnected and lacked the emotion that had been in full force up until that point. The way the story was laid out made us think that time had passed when the hero and heroine may have been together but I wasn’t sure. I guess I didn’t like the not knowing what had happened when before we had been privy to all happenings. It all worked out in the end though and ended with a wonderful HEA so I was happy.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Review: The Downfall of a Good Girl by Kimberly Lang

Posted April 24, 2013 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Rowena’s review of The Downfall of a Good Girl by Kimberly Lang.

Hero: Connor Mansfield
Heroine: Vivi LaBlanc

Southern debutante Vivienne LaBlanc can’t believe bad-boy rock star Connor Mansfield is back in town for the New Orleans annual Saints and Sinners pageant. He has a reputation as wicked as his devilish smile, and Vivi has no intention of becoming one of his latest groupies! He once crushed her high school heart, so playing the saint to Connor’s sinner should be easy. But how can Vivi get those less-than-angelic thoughts out of her head-especially when Connor’s so good at tempting her to be bad?

This is my third book read from the Harlequin Kiss line and I’m starting to think that maybe it’s time to move on. That’s not to say that there is anything particularly wrong with these books but I’ve been underwhelmed by the whole lot of them. This book had all of the things that make a great story and it was good but I wasn’t completely blown away with the story or the characters.

This story follows Vivi LaBlanc and Connor Mansfield as they bumble along their way toward that happy ending.  Vivi is an ex-beauty queen and Connor is the bad boy.  These books are short reads but they don’t feel like them.  Sometimes they’re slow to begin and once they take off, it’s fine but getting toward the point where things start getting interesting is sometimes hard to get to and that was how I felt with this book.  It took a little bit for me to warm up to the story and to the characters.

Connor as a bad boy hero was convincing and as much as I am a whore for sexy heroes, I found myself annoyed with Vivi for giving into Connor as much as she did because he was kind of an ass.  At the annual Saints and Sinners pageant, Vivi is announced as the Saint and Connor is the Sinner.  The closer they get to each other, the more Vivi is drawn to him.  It’ s surprising to Vivi because she hates his guts and the feeling is completely mutual.  Nobody in town has forgotten the whole incident from prom and neither have they.

But as with all romance novels, the two main characters battle and bicker their way toward that happy ending and overall, it was a good book but it took me too long to warm up to the book.  There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the way that it was written but more that I couldn’t connect with either Vivi or Connor.  They were both fine characters but they didn’t exactly reach out and grab me the way that I was hoping they would.

So this book is good and I liked it but well, thats about it.

Grade: 2.5 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin Kiss. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.


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Review: The One That Got Away by Kelly Hunter

Posted March 20, 2013 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Rowena’s review of The One that Got Away by Kelly Hunter.

Hero: Logan Black
Heroine: Evangeline

Good job? Tick. Newly purchased apartment? Tick. Evie’s life is on a pretty even keel at the moment. The only thing missing? A man with an edge to keep things interesting. Enter Logan Black. Tortured, distant and sexy, Logan has edge written all over him. He’s also the man who tipped Evie over the edge a few years back – she gave him everything, but he didn’t know when to stop taking. Leaving Logan was the hardest thing Evie’s ever done. Until now. Because Logan’s back, the chemistry is as blistering as ever, and this time he’s not going anywhere..

It’s hard to review this book because it wasn’t a bad book but man was it hard to connect with both the hero and the heroine.  Logan and Evangeline have a history together, a very short history but a history that has stayed with them all this time.  Their history involves a bed, in a hotel and no clothes.  Evie was young and inexperienced but her time with Logan showed her that she might be ruined for other men and when he left her high and dry, she never forgot him.

So fast foward to now and Evie owns a contracting business with ….Logan’s brother.  Did she know that Max’s brother Logan was her Logan? No but when she finds that out, she’s pretending to be Max’s fiance’ so that they can get their hands on Max’s inheritance for their company.  As you can tell, the chemistry is still pretty intense between Logan and Evie, even though Logan makes it known that he wants nothing to do with Evie or the chemistry buzzing between them.

The way Logan acted and reacted to just about everything in this book annoyed me, mostly because while I understood it, I didn’t understand him.  I didn’t understand why he was such an ass to Evie if he was so sorry for losing control the way that he did all those years ago.  If you don’t want to lose control like that again then stay away from her.  Since you didn’t stay away from her, be nice.  His attitude toward his mother was justified but his attitude toward Evie wasn’t.  Yeah, he came around and it was a long battle but it wasn’t a battle that I cared for.

But aside from Logan’s bad attitude and his inability to just bang Evie and be done with it, this book was good.  I really liked Max, sometimes more than Logan but eventually I did come to like both Logan and Evie so I’m glad for that.  I’m curious enough about this author that I would give her a try but as far as this book, it was good but not my favorite read of the month.

Grade: 3 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin Kiss. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.


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Review: Hitched! by Jessica Hart

Posted March 7, 2013 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Rowena’s review of Hitched! by Jessica Hart.

Hero: Frith Taylor
Heroine: George Challoner

Planning the most-talked-about wedding of the year is enough to break engineer Frith Taylor out in a cold sweat. She’s used to construction sites, not wedding fairs! But estate manager George Challoner’s offer of help is one that’s too good to resist. George may be the rebel of the prestigious Challoner family, but his insanely good looks are giving Frith wedding fever! Charm personified, he’s making her feel things she hasn’t dared feel before. Maybe her little sister’s wedding won’t be the only one Frith’s planning…?

This story kind of reminded me of one of those Lifetime movies, or maybe a Hallmark movie? Whichever movies are lighthearted, a little cheesy but still cute.  I don’t think it’s Lifetime because I keep seeing serial killers for husbands and domestic violence victims running away in my head for Lifetime movies.  Anyway, this book was cute and of all of the Harlequin Kiss books that I’ve read, this one was my favorite.

Frith Taylor is an engineer who is more comfortable on a construction site than she is anywhere else.  She’s smart, she’s capable and she’s got a plan.  One that doesn’t include weddings and hen nights (which I’m assuming is the American equivalent of bachelorette parties) but when George offers to help her, she finds herself going along.

Frith and George are complete opposites.  She’s very rigid in the way that deals with everything in her life which doesn’t lead to a lot of wild nights filled with fun.  It’s hard to be out having fun when you’re determined to not end up like your mother.  Sticking to her plan has been her M.O. for as long as she can remember and she’s not going to let anything or anyone distract her from that.  But George is more easy going, always smiling and trying to shake Frith up.  He’s interested in her because she’s interesting and like George, I wanted to shake her up a little too.  Seeing the two of them grow closer and closer, the more time they spent with each other was a fun ride.  One that I’m glad to have been a part of.

I enjoyed getting to know both Frith and George and I also liked the other characters like Saffron and Roly.  This book is told in first person so that might turn off some people because we get this entire story through Frith’s POV but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment.  I liked Frith, she had an engaging voice even though she was kind of uptight.  I recommend this book to lovers of chick lit, Kristan Higgins books and contemporary romance.  I liked it.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin Kiss. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.


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Review: How to Get Over Your Ex by Nikki Logan

Posted February 28, 2013 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: How to Get Over Your Ex by Nikki LoganReviewer: Rowena
How To Get Over Your Ex by Nikki Logan
Publisher: Harlequin, Harlequin Kiss
Publication Date: February 1st 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 224
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-stars

Being rejected is one thing. Being rejected live on radio takes it to a whole new level!

After her on-air proposal is turned down by her commitment-phobe boyfriend, Georgia Stone must learn to survive singledom. Unfortunately, thanks to a clause in her contract, she has to do it under the watchful gaze of brooding radio producer Zander Rush.

And so begins the Year of Georgia! Lurching from salsa classes to spy school, Georgia discovers a taste for adventure. Her biggest thrill so far? Flirting with danger - aka the enigmatic Zander. But admitting she's ready for more than just a fling...? Definitely Georgia's scariest challenge yet!

Alright, so starts my reading of the new line of books from Harlequin Kiss.  To date, I’ve read two of the titles from Harlequin Kiss and I have to say that even though these books are pretty short, they don’t read like short stories.  They read like full length stories with all of the emotions and everything packed in.

This story follows Georgia and Zander as they go from class to class, from country to country and fall in love.  Georgia proposes to her boyfriend Daniel on air as part of a Valentine’s day promotion that Zander is producing for his radio station and when her boyfriend rejects her proposal, Georgia is devasted…and humiliated.

After Georgia walks out of the radio station, she plans to hide in her lab and work for the next two years until everything blows over.  She plans to work at night and over the weekend so that she wouldn’t have to see anyone or talk to anyone outside of her best friend, who just happens to be Daniel’s sister.  When she hears from Zander Rush, the producer of the radio station that she foolishly got swept along in, her initial instinct is to run far away from any offer he has but of course that doesn’t happen.

She signs up for a year of Georgia with the money that they would have used on her wedding.  She signs up for cooking classes, salsa classes and Zander’s station covers the charges of all of this because they’re tagging along on Georgia’s new adventures to find herself, to find a new happiness and reporting on them on the station.

This was a quick read, one that I enjoyed.  I liked getting to know both characters and I liked watching them grow closer together through their shared experiences in the classes and the struggle to keep things professional came off real and overall, this was a good story.  I will definitely keep my eye out on more books by Nikki Logan.

Grade: 3 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin Kiss. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

three-stars


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