Guest Review: Awakened by a Kiss by Lila Dipasqua

Posted December 9, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Tracy’s review of Awakened by a Kiss (Fiery Tales #1) by Lila Dipasqua

Once upon a salacious time, when fairy tales were written…

Sleeping Beau: Five years ago, notorious rake Adrien d’Aspe, Marquis de Beaulain, was awakened by a sensuous kiss-and experienced a night of raw ecstasy that was branded into his memory. Years later, he spots his mysterious seductress-and this time, he has no intention of letting her go…

Adrien, when he discovers that Catherine is the woman who came to his bed all those years ago, is determined to have her again because he hasn’t stopped dreaming about her for five long years. She mortified that she’s seeing Adrien because she thought that the man she had bedded was a foreigner and that she’d never see him again. Not only is he not a foreigner but he’s the King’s son!

She eventually gives in to Adrien’s seductiveness and agrees to be his unashamed bed mate for the 5 days that she’s going to be at the house they’re staying at. You see after that she’ll be leaving to get married. The pair share a bed for the days they are together but it also seemed that they shared a bond that grew stronger as the days wore on. When her betrothed comes to get her early Adrien realizes that he’s fallen in love but since he feels that’s not who he is (and he’s got love issues because of his mother) he lets her go. (Stupid man!)

I think the simplicity of this story is what really made my romantic heart go crazy. The ease of the couple when they were together was so wonderful to read. I love complex stories as much as the next person but every once in a while it’s nice to read a story about two people falling in love without too many complications. FYI – there is a distraction in this one that comes in the form of Adrien’s sister – and was a bit dramatic – but I still loved the story.

Little Red Writing: Nicolas de Savignac, Comte de Lambelle, has been assigned by the King to uncover the secret identity of the author writing scandalous stories about powerful courtiers. He never expected his investigation would lead to his grandmother’s house, or to a ravishing woman who would stir his deepest hunger…

What do you do when you’re supposed to arrest someone but you’ve found that you’ve fallen in love with that person? Well that’s this story in a nutshell. Nicolas and his fellow Muskateer Thomas manage to gain entry to his grandmother’s house, after sending her on a fool’s errand, to discover the identity of the author of some scandalous books. He finds himself falling in love with Anne, one of the sisters staying at his grandmother’s house. He has to ask himself, is getting that promotion really worth losing the love of my life?

While I liked this story as a whole I did have a problem with Nicolas’s deceit. Believe me, if I was in his position I don’t know that I could have, or would have, done anything differently but I’m not one who cares for the hero sneaking around behind the heroine’s back for nefarious reasons. (ok, maybe not nefarious, but clearly not nice!) Besides that little quirk I found the couple was great together and seemed to just fit. Just shows me you can meet the mate of your dreams in the most unlikely places. 🙂

Bewitching in Boots: Elisabeth de Roussel, daughter of the King, is accustomed to getting what she wants-and she wants Tristan de Tiersonnier, Comte de Saint-Marcel, an ex-commander of the King’s private Guard. A recent injury has forced Tristan to leave his distinguished position, but Elisabeth is determined to make him see he’s every bit the man he once was-and more than man enough for her…

Elisabeth has been in love with Tristan from afar for years. She’s finally decided that’s she’s going to take matters into her own hands because she’s just tired of waiting. Tristan’s not happy to see Elisabeth. He’s always viewed her as a spoiled daughter of the King, especially as she’s his favorite daughter. But Elisabeth doesn’t just plan to get Tristan for herself – she also plans to get him reinstated as the commander of her father’s private guard.

Again, a little deceit on the heroine’s part in this story but it was for such good reasons I really had to overlook it. Ok, yes, getting Tristan for herself made Elisabeth selfish on some levels but after waiting so long for him to come to her, and it not happening, sometimes a woman just has to do what she’s gotta do! Lol Her heart was in the right place with all plans involving Tristan and I certainly couldn’t dislike her for that.

In all three stories we found tales that were related to fairy tales, but not too closely, which I appreciated. I liked that the setting for the book pretty much revolved around, in a sometimes loose fashion, King Louis XIV, and his court, offspring, etc. I think it takes some good writing skills to get me to look at men from the 17th century with all of their frills, ruffles, brocade and long coats (not to mention those curly wigs) and find them hot and hero worthy – but this author had those skills and worked them quite engagingly. The tales all involved true love and hot sex scenes as well which made the stories one part sweet, one part smokin’ and I found it a great combination.

If you like your fairy tales that are hotter than the original but pretty darned romantic this is definitely a book you need to read.

Rating: 4 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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