Tag: Maureen Child

Review: Kiss Me, I’m Irish by Roxanne St. Claire, Jill Shalvis and Maureen Child

Posted February 7, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments


Rowena’s review of Kiss Me, I’m Irish by Roxanne St. Claire, Jill Shalvis and Maureen Child.

The Sins of His Past by Roxanne St. Claire.
Hero: Seamus “Deuce” Monroe
Heroine: Kendra Locke
Awww, this book had me sighing all over the dang place. For such a short story, St. Claire did a pretty bang up job of pulling me deep into the lives of Deuce Monroe and Kendra Locke. Not once while I was reading the story, did I feel like it was missing something or want more from the story. It was the perfect mix of history, back story and present day goodness all mashed together to make a very entertaining short story. I don’t think the shortness of the book made the story suffer either, so good on St. Claire for writing a story that kept me entertained and interested in seeing where it all went.
I adored both Deuce and Kendra. Kendra and her lifelong crush on Deuce. Deuce and his flirty spice attitude where Kendra was. I thought it was pretty arrogant of him to think that he could waltz back into Kendra’s life and pick up where they left off, like he didn’t bang her and then leave her in the dush without so much as a by your leave or a phone call to acknowledge that what happened between them, did in fact, happen. But St. Claire wrote it in a way that made Deuce endearing instead of asshole-ish.
This was a cute story and I loved this Irish hero. Very happy with St. Claire’s efforts on this one. I need to get some of her Romantic Suspense stories read. I haven’t done that yet.
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
Tangling with Ty by Jill Shalvis.
Hero: Ty Patrick O’Grady
Heroine: Dr. Nicole Mann
From the start of this book to the end of this story, I wasn’t a fan of the heroine. Her independent streak got to be annoying and the whole hot and cold act she had with Ty really pissed me off. I didn’t understand what the hell Ty saw in her that made him love her as much as he did. I mean, she was hot one minute and then cold the next which made her a total tease and the poor guy had to have suffered from whiplash and a huge case of blue balls. It was annoying how she kept going full speed ahead, only to slam on the breaks when it starts to get good.
The thing about it all was, I didn’t completely understand why she was the way that she was. She was serially single and wasn’t the relationship type so why not bang Ty ten ways from Sunday? He was more than willing and wasn’t looking for a relationship, not at first anyway so why not? I didn’t understand her reasons for pumping the breaks so much and that’s what really annoyed me about her. There’s nothing wrong with being independent but she took it to annoying levels and it did nothing but piss me off. By the end of the story, I still didn’t really have any clue why Nicole was such a great catch or why Ty loved her so much but by then, I was over it all.
Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy this story very much. The writing was fine, it was the characters that drove me bat shit crazy. It surprised me since I’m such a huge Jill Shalvis fan but I guess it had to happen sooner or later, right?
Balls.
Grade: 2 out of 5 (I gave it a two because of Ty. I liked him.)
Whatever Reilly Wants by Maureen Child
Hero: Connor Reilly
Heroine: Emma Jacobsen
While Emma didn’t drive me nearly as batty as Nicole did, she came pretty close to several times in her short story. Connor has a bet going with his brothers, to see who can hold out on sex for the longest (winner wins about ten grand). He thinks he has it in the bag because he’s not tempted in the least. He’s got some time off and he spends a lot of time with his best friend, Emma Jacobsen at her garage. Emma’s a mechanic and when Connor tells her that he’s fine around her because he doesn’t see her as a woman since she’s a mechanic- she gets all pissy (rightly so, I was annoyed too) but like any red blooded female, she doesn’t get sad, she gets even. She sets off to seduce him and it works like a charm (which come to think of it, he’s been celibate for almost two months and he’s a total horndog, of course she was going to seduce him).
The thing that annoyed me about this story was Emma. Connor did a pretty bang up job of annoying me too but not enough to where I wanted to kick him in the nuts and call it a day or anything. With him, it was mainly stupid shit he’d say that had me rolling my eyes down the street but with Emma, her thought processes annoyed me more than everything that Connor said. After they bang in her garage, she starts spewing things that confused the hell out of me and Connor too and I had no idea what the hell was wrong. She got to angry, too fast that it had me shaking my head but the other thing that I wasn’t a fan of was how quickly she fell in love with Connor.
For me, it wasn’t believable and I wish more had happened before she finally fell because then it would have been believable but since that didn’t happen, my enjoyment of the story as a whole suffered.
Grade: 2.75 out of 5
Overall, I thought Roxanne St. Claire’s story in this book was my favorite. I really enjoyed Deuce and Kendra (even when they were fighting) but the other two stories just weren’t for me.
Overall grade: 3 out of 5 (I totally used the calculator, =P)
This book is available from Harlequin. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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Guest Review: One Night, Two Heirs by Maureen Child

Posted July 14, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments


Judith’s review of One Night, Two Heirs by Maureen Child.

Texas Cattleman’s Club Rule #1: Always Act Honorably

Duty is his world. And upon seeing Sadie Price with twin girls, marine Rick Pruitt realizes he has some proposing to do. He never would have left Royal, Texas, if he’d known Sadie was carrying his babies.

Yet the feisty single mom has no intention of agreeing to a loveless marriage. True, she and Rick share a bond, as well as undeniable passion. But Sadie believes vows should last a lifetime, not be declared out of obligation. Making it Rick’s new mission to change her mind.

This is another fun and lightweight read for which Harlequin is famous. So many of us were raised on these simple but fun short novels and this story follows right along with the tried and true format.

Rick Pruitt has returned to Royal, Texas, carefully considering whether he will re-enlist for another tour or retire from the U. S. Marines. When Sadie introduces him to his twin daughters, children of whom he was completely unaware, the stakes go up. Now Rick wants Sadie–who he is not sure he “loves” but for whom he has a deep and persistent attraction–and his daughters to move to his ranch, the spread he has inherited from his parents and which has been maintained by his foreman and staff during his years away overseas. Sadie will have none of it, and the story revolves around Rick’s efforts to persuade Sadie to accept his suit and her resistance to marrying just for the sake of their children. That he has won the hearts of his girls doesn’t help Sadie’s position any, so it is a story that sort of rolls along from one adversarial encounter to the next.

There really isn’t a whole lot of plot here and the story is certainly not new in its basic dynamic, nor is it complicated. But that doesn’t mean that this can’t be a fun way to spend some time. I know in years past I would take a “reading day” as my monthly respite from my four kids–four kids in five years–and it was a stack of Harlequin fun reads that filled the hours and helped me relax and feel restored. All that being said, the story is well told and testifies to Ms Child’s skill to flesh out a very simple plot. Add in the ongoing tussle at the local Texas Cattlemen’s Club–a push/pull kind of upset that runs throughout this series of short novels involving a men’s club that now admits women and the inevitable changes being wrought by the feminine presence–changes that are being seriously resisted by a number of men in Royal. It is the old tug-of-war between the traditionalists and the progressives. It adds fun and spice to the story and is a very nice seque to upcoming stories in this series.

I just flat out enjoyed this book–it is relaxing and certainly not taxing. If you want a complicated, substantive novel this is will not be your choice. But if you want something to read that will hold your interest and be very entertaining, that you will like this novel.

I give it a rating of 3.75 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Harlequin. You can buy it here in e-format.


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Review: Have Baby, Need Billionaire by Maureen Child

Posted January 27, 2011 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Holly‘s review of Have Baby, Need Billionaire by Maureen Child.

He’d certainly never set eyes on—much less gone to bed with—Tula Barrons. That he would have remembered. Yet businessman Simon Bradley agreed to let Tula and her infant cousin—a child she claimed was his—stay in his mansion until he had proof of the little boy’s paternity.

But having Tula under his roof revealed something unexpected—her father had once nearly destroyed Simon’s business. The billionaire now had the perfect opportunity for revenge. He could seduce Tula and take away the baby she loved…but if he succeeded, he could lose all he’d come to care for.

I’ve been reading Maureen Child for years. I buy based on her name alone. Unfortunately her more recent releases haven’t been on par with what I’ve come to expect from her.

I started this novel and set it aside after 34 pages. I don’t generally quit a book so early on, but the actions of the heroine convinced me not to continue.

Tula Barrons has been named guardian of her nephew upon the death of her cousin. In her will, the cousin said she wants her son to go to his father, billionaire Simon Bradley, whom she hasn’t told about the baby. She left Tula in charge of approving him as caretaker.

The problem is that Tula has daddy issues. Her father is a very rich man who has always made his disappointment in Tula very clear. She’s chosen to make her own way in the world. Which is commendable, except she carries a major prejudice for men who wear suits (ie, rich men). She goes to Simon’s office to tell him about his son and to offer him a chance to discuss the terms of her cousin’s will. The first meeting goes fairly well, all things considered. Tula babbles like a moron at first, but once she explains the situation and invites Simon over, she calms down. Simon, naturally, doesn’t take the news well. He hasn’t seen Tula’s cousin in over a year and, in fact, barely remembers her. To hear he has a child..well, he’s shocked. And somewhat disbelieving. He agrees to meet with Tula that evening and shoos her out of his office. I can’t say I blamed him.

This is where the novel went downhill. Tula goes home and calls her best friend, to tell her how the meeting went. While on the phone she makes a few comments that bothered me, in regards to Simon, but it’s once she gets off the phone that I became truly annoyed. She assures the baby that she won’t let mean old Suit Simon suck all the joy and creativity from his world. This bothered me because she doesn’t know Simon. She meets him once, under less than ideal circumstances, then jumps to conclusions about the type of person he is.

Then it goes from bad to worse. Simon shows up and Tula continues to insult and harangue him. When he’s obviously shocked and angry over not knowing about his son, she tells him to suck it up. She gets angry with him for handling the baby gently and decides that’s proof that he isn’t fit to care for the baby. Then she jumps to the conclusion that he’s insulting her work as a children’s author because he made the mistake of asking what she did for a living. Since her father doesn’t approve, she assumes Simon is being condescending about it also. WTF?

I decided at that point I couldn’t read anymore. Maybe Tula is reformed in the end. Maybe Simon really is the jerk she assumes he is. But the automatic assumptions on her part made me angry enough that I don’t care to find out.

DNF (though what I read gets a 1 out of 5)

This book is available from Silhouette Desire. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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