Tag: Elizabeth Bevarly

Guest Reviews

Posted October 20, 2009 by Tracy in Reviews | 5 Comments

I suck! Seriously. I hopped onto Blogger to let you know that my review for Indiscreet had posted over at The Book Binge and I started thinking – have I let them know about my reviews lately? Um, no…not since the middle of Sept. Yikes! What the hell is that all about? I have no idea, truly. This post should get me all caught up! lol

Starting with the oldest first – just click on the titles to go to the review:

Viking He at by Sandra Hill
Psychologist Joy Nelson thinks things are bad when she finds herself training in the modern-day female Navy SEALs program. But then her life takes a turn for the worse. Somehow she’s been thrust back in time to the cold Norselands, and is being auctioned off as a thrall, or slave–a gift for a Viking warlord, who would be a perfect candidate for Male Chauvinist Viking of the Centuries!

Brandr isn’t thrilled with the slave his brothers have purchased for him. Holy Thor! The woman wants to teach him anger-management skills! And help him find his feminine side, whatever that is. She may be beautiful, but the saucy wench defies him at every turn. So Brandr makes her an offer: She can earn her freedom…as his bed thrall. But when Joy dares to decline his offer, he must decide what to do with the woman enslaved to him–and the out-of-control heat between them.

Beyond the Rain by Jess Grange r
In a universe torn apart by civil war, a warrior and a slave must fight for their freedom, for their lives, and for a love that may destroy them both…

After five years behind enemy lines, Captain Cyani is ready to retire to her homeworld of Azra as one of the Elite — the celibate warrior sisterhood that rules the planet. But first she must complete one final mission to rescue her fellow Union soldiers. The last thing she expects to find is a prisoner, chained and beaten — but radiating feral power and an unbroken spirit…

Soren is a Byralen, an enigmatic people who possess a unique hormone that they use to bond with their mates — and that is sold as a sexual narcotic in the shadow trade. For years, he has endured torture at the hands of his captors as they leeched his very essence. The last thing he expects is to be freed from slavery by a beautiful warrior woman with radiant blue eyes.

Bufflehead Sisters by Patricia L. Delois
As an only child, Janet longs for a sister her parents are unable to give her. In kindergarten she meets Sophie, a strange and imaginative girl with a troubled family life. As friendship grows between the two girls, Janet believes her prayers have been answered, especially when members of her family embrace Sophie as one of their own.

Sophie’s troubles continue to follow her through high school, and Janet stands by her “sister” until, in adulthood, she learns of a devastating secret Sophie has kept from her. Janet’s world is turned upside down—and she discovers there may be a limit to what sisters should share.

Neck and Ne ck by Elizabeth Bevarly
There’s only one sure way for fledgling party planner Natalie Beckett to make her Kentucky Derby Eve soiree a success: get reclusive video game creator/billionaire Russell Mullholland to attend. But how can she even get out of the gate with Russell’s gorgeous bodyguard, Finn Guthrie, blocking the way? Never let it be said that Natalie doesn’t like a challenge, for soon she finds sparring with Finn far more exciting than landing Russell on her VIP guest list.

Indi screet by Carolyn Jewel
Edward, Marquess of Foye, would have been happy to continue his life as an unmarried gentleman rake. His brother’s death changed everything. As the last of his line, Edward must now marry. Heart already broken by a capricious young girl, he vows to find an older woman-seasoned, mature. . .and no threat to his feelings. Falling in love can be dangerous. . . Sabine Godard was educated by an Oxford don beyond what was proper. Her studies became her salvation after her past left her unwilling to accept the touch of any man. Though she never intended to fall in love, when she and Edward meet, passion defies logic. Together they explore temptation and sensuality, healing old wounds. . .until events require them to risk everything for their love.

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Tagged: Carolyn Jewel, Elizabeth Bevarly, Guest Review, Jess Granger, Patricia J. Delois, Sandra Hill, The Book Binge

Guest Review: Neck and Neck by Elizabeth Bevarly

Posted October 13, 2009 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Publisher: Berkley, Penguin

Tracy’s review of Neck and Neck by Elizabeth Bevarly.

There’s only one sure way for fledgling party planner Natalie Beckett to make her Kentucky Derby Eve soiree a success: get reclusive video game creator/billionaire Russell Mullholland to attend. But how can she even get out of the gate with Russell’s gorgeous bodyguard, Finn Guthrie, blocking the way? Never let it be said that Natalie doesn’t like a challenge, for soon she finds sparring with Finn far more exciting than landing Russell on her VIP guest list.

Natlie Beckett is a rich girl from Louisville, Kentucky. But much to her mother’s chagrin she went to college to get an education, not just to get a husband. Natalie’s tried to get many different businesses off of the ground, determined to make a go of it, but they’ve all failed. Her latest business, a party planning company, is the one that will make it. The very first client she gets is a friend of her mother’s and the client is throwing a Kentucky Derby eve party. Natalie has now had 8 months to plan it and unfortunately, no one is going to attend. Ok, a few people, but it’s just not a big draw. Natalie is desperate to get people there because it’s also a fundraiser for at risk youth and she wants her client to be able to give them a big fat check. While looking for a celebrity draw she finds out that reclusive Russell Mullholland is in town and she decides to go for it and get him there.

In her race to get Russell to the party she has to go through Russell’s bodyguard Finn Guthrie. From the moment they see each other they are attracted to each other but there’s no way that Finn is going to convince Russell to go to the party. Though Finn is attracted to Natalie he believes that she is engaged to another man and won’t make a move. He also doesn’t trust Natalie and her motives – but then Finn doesn’t trust anyone.

I have to say that I almost put this book down after the first 5 pages. Natalie had called herself a loser 5 times in 5 pages and all I could think was if a heroine of a book has so little self-esteem do I really want to read about it? But I kept going and it got better. Yes, Natalie is feeling horrible about the soon to be outcome of the party but I did have to admire her persistence. She did keep trying.

On top of Natalie and Finn’s realtionship we had a second romance going on between Russell and a cocktail waitress at a strip club going on. She wasn’t who she seemed but he didn’t know that at first. When he found out, he was more than shocked but he obviously had hidden depths and dealt with it well.

I have to say that though this book was cute and I actually laughed in a few parts, I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. I like a lot of dialogue in my books, I’m discovering, and this one had a lot of inner thoughts that I felt weren’t pertinent to the story. I found myself skimming 3 or 4 paragraphs at a time until I got back to the story.

I did like Finn and Natalie’s relationship up until the end. Finn had been adamant about how he didn’t want any woman in his life and then he gave in…just because he trusted her. With Russell and the waitresses relationship that was just too easy for me and I didn’t love that part of the story. It was all wrapped up in a little bow and I just didn’t personally care for it.

In the end: Cute story with some funny parts but I had some issues with it.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place.

This book is available from Berkley Sensation. You can buy it here.

2 Comments

Tagged: 3.0 Reviews, Berkley, Berkley Sensation, Contemporary, Elizabeth Bevarly, Guest Reviews, Reviews, Tracy's Reviews

What I Read Last Week

Posted October 5, 2009 by Tracy in Features | 16 Comments

Greetings and Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was nice and sunny here but also a little cooler which was really nice since it’s been damned hot lately. It feels like Fall – finally! 🙂

It was a fun weekend with the girls – we went Halloween costume shopping and got that out of the way. They changed there mind about 1,000 times before they finally decided. Whatever happened to a sheet with the eye holes? lol Just kidding. 🙂 We also went to the library, the rummage sale that our church was having, to Borders, to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (cute, but they liked the book better), and to the park among other things. It was a busy weekend, but good.

This week I had a totally incredible Mommy moment with my youngest daughter. The kids had wanted breakfast for dinner – which they love (I think it’s cuz no vegetables are involved) – and so I made them waffles and eggs and bacon. A while later my youngest came in to the office and sat on my lap to give me a hug. This is what was said:

Me: You smell like syrup.
Her: You smell like a Momma.
Me: laughing Really? What does a Momma smell like?
Her: thinking for a moment Kind, beautiful and nice.

Omg I about broke down in tears! Isn’t that the sweetest thing? She’s just a little lovebug!

So on to what I read. I read a lot this past week. I look at my list sometimes and try to figure out when I had the time to read all of it and just can’t do it! lol This is one of those weeks.

First up was my Re-read Challenge book Kiss of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning. I love this book and I think I’ll read the next book in the series for my next re-read, IDK – definitely thinking about it. You can see my thoughts here.

Next up was The Protector by N.L. Gassert. This is an m/m story about a straight-laced security expert and a guy in his 20’s who needs protecting. It was a good story with a few issues but I liked it. 4 out of 5

Next I read Covet by J.R. Ward. I have to say I had very mixed feelings about the book after I was done. This is a story about Jim and how he’s chosen by both the Angels and the Demons to save the world. If he fails then everything that exists, including earth, heaven and hell (although they don’t actua lly call them that) will disappear. That’s kind of a big load to carry, don’t you think? Jim has to help some people make the right choice between good and evil and there is a romance involved in a small way. The story takes place in Caldwell which I wasn’t thrilled with. I think Caldwell’s got enough shit going on with the Vamps and the Lessers but who am I to say? I kind of got the feeling that the next book would take place somewhere else but I’m not sure. While there are some really great parts to the book there are some other meh moments as well and after putting the book down I had to really think about it. 3.75 out of 5

My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas. It fell just slightly short of the 3 month rule, but hell, it’s my challenge, I’ll cheat if I want, right? lol Anyway…good book! I really loved seeing Cam Rohan again and him falling for Amelia was great. I wasn’t thrilled with the paranormal element even though it wasn’t a massive part of the story. I think when I read a Kleypas or Quinn historical I don’t want anything paranormal going on just a good, straight historical. I’m looking forward to reading the next book though and bought the latest in this series yesterday while at Borders. 4.25 out of 5

I read Midnight Treat by Becca Simone after that. This was a novella about a man meets a woman at a Halloween party and she tells him to meet her in her apartment – go up the fire escape and act like he’s breaking in. The woman wants him to role play and she says she loves to be scared while having sex. Well Josh breaks in to the wrong apartment and when he discovers the mistake (after the fact) he’s mortified and expects to be arrested. When that doesn’t happen he contacts the woman he had sex with to make sure that she’s ok – but he doesn’t reveal who he is. She’s more than ok with Zorro’s break in – she wants more! While Josh and Cassie start a sexual relationship and Josh is being gentle and kind she longs for the raunchier sex Zorro gave her when he broke into her apartment. I think I have a thing for Halloween stories in general. I’m always attracted to them for some reason and really enjoy reading them – even with they’re a little “out there”. This was cute and a fun sexual romp. 4 out of 5

I read a very short free read from Wild Rose Press a while back called Mischief in the Garage. I never quite got around to reading the story it was attached to but I finally did. Mischief in the Dark by Liza James is another Halloween story about 2 people who go to a haunted house and somehow get stuck in the dark warehouse behind locked doors. What can we do while we wait? Have sex, of course! lol It was a very cute short story (24 pages I think) and I like how the author interjected humor with the sex. 4 out of 5

Holly from The Book Binge sent me the latest 2 books in the Warriors of Poseidon series by Alyssa Day. I started reading one for my BB read this week and pretty much didn’t have a clue what was going on. I decided to read the series and see what was happening. Luckily my local library had books 1 and 3 in stock and I had the novellas that make up books 2 and 4 already on my shelf. So I read Atlantis Rising and it wasn’t bad. It’s kind of like a shape-shifter story in that the Warriors of Poseidon are finding their mates – only they don’t mate they soul-meld. I’m thinking that the stories will focus on the Prince (book 1), his brother and the Seven which are the warriors that protect the prince, but I’m guessing. This story followed Conlan who had just been returned to Atlantis after being held prisoner and tortured by THE evil vamp goddess, Anubisa. He meets Riley and is immediately drawn to her and wants to protect her and of course then she’s in danger, etc. I thought that Riley held her own with not being bossed around which was good since there was a shitload of testosterone going around. lol I personally thought that even though the Atlanteans discovered that Conlan wasn’t mentally damaged from his 7 years of torture he adjusted pretty damned well to being free and all of a sudden falling in love but that’s me. 3.5 out of 5

Next was the next book in the Warriors of Poseidon series by Alyssa Day, Wild Hearts in Atlantis which is in the Wild Thing novella (which I already had because of the Meljean Brook story in it. :0)). This was another warrior, Bastien, who goes to Florida to try and check out some rogue shape-shifters and falls in love with Kat, who is part human and part shape-shifter. In these books vamps and shape-shifters were revealed to humans about 10 years earlier and some evil ones have pretty much started to take over. The Atlanteans haven’t been revealed but are trying to help stop the take over. 3.5 out of 5

My last read for the week was Neck and Neck by Elizabeth Bevarly. I read this one for The Book Binge and will let you know when my review posts.

Oh and I posted the list of what I read for September (if you want to see it all in one post) here, or you can click on “booklist” at the top of the page and it will take you there.

Happy Reading!