Tag: Renee’s Reviews

Guest Review: Exposed to You by Beth Kery

Posted February 25, 2013 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Exposed to You by Beth KeryReviewer: Renee
Exposed to You (One Night Of Passion, #2) by Beth Kery
Series: One Night Of Passion #2
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: November 6th 2012
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Erotica
Pages: 307
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

From the author of the unforgettable Because You Are Mine...

Losing control is just the beginning…

“What would you do if the sexiest man in the world was bent on bringing you unbearable pleasure again and again? Joy Hightower wasn’t sure she could survive the experience…or live without it."

It’s not often you’re hired to paint a body tattoo—and what a body—on a total stranger at a Hollywood film set. A reserved and careful art teacher, Joy would never forget it. In a rare fit of raw desire she gave herself completely, knowing she’d never see him again, or ever repeat such a shameless, naked impulse.

Little did she know, the man with whom she shared that lightning bolt of lust was star Everett Hughes. For Everett, women and sex came as easily as fame. But how could he hope to convince the guarded Joy that beneath the hard body and sexy façade of celebrity was a real man who wanted only one, real woman?

In the heat of an intoxicating affair, Everett endeavors to break down her barriers, gain her trust, and expose himself as the real deal. But can Joy do the same, and reveal to him the vulnerable woman who longs to be loved, wanted, and desired forever?  

Read the incredibly hot “Exposed to You excerpt“.  In the excerpt, Joy, reeling from a cancer diagnosis, is asked to apply special effects body makeup on Everett, an actor. The chemistry and tension that builds between them as she works on his tattoo leads to an intense sexual encounter that’s contrary to Joy’s typically cautious nature.

After reading this combustible opening (the excerpt is taken from the first chapter of the book) I was really curious to see how the author could build Joy and Everett’s relationship beyond their obvious physical attraction into something deeper and more lasting. The rest of the book takes place over a year after their first encounter–and after her cancer treatment, and while they are still drawn to each other, Joy especially, has changed greatly in the interim.

Through both blisteringly raw and intimate encounters, and time spent outside of the bedroom, Joy and Everett get to know each other. They reveal their vulnerabilities and their history. I really like that time was spent on developing their relationship through many levels of sharing, and that they each found qualities in the other worth exploring. Joy sees Everett’s grace and confidence. He is so comfortable in his own skin, and she is just wowed by that. Everett loves that Joy is unimpressed with his celebrity, seeing him as a whole person, not just the guy on the supermarket tabloid.

However, Everett also finds Joy a bit of an enigma. Her sexual connection with him is so open. She responds to his dominance with a willing acceptance, allowing herself to be incredibly vulnerable to him. Yet, Joy also keeps a part of herself closed to him in the aftermath of their sexual encounters. She pushes him away, and he can’t figure out why.

And, this is where I have some issues with Joy. I really got how she would pull away from Everett some times, protecting herself from anticipated future hurt. His reputation and all the baggage that comes from being a celebrity sometimes gets in the way of letting her believe that Everett’s feelings were genuine and lasting.

But, I had a harder time understanding her insistence on secrecy around having had cancer. It becomes an elephant in the room that Everett can sense, but not identify.  I felt so frustrated for him at times. I really worried that the author wouldn’t be able to resolve this issue in a way that felt true to the character and story, and allowed for a believable HEA.

However, I shouldn’t have worried. Beth Kery’s ability to convey deeply emotional issues really allowed me to see Joy’s growth, and believe in their HEA.

When I read Exposed to You, I didn’t realize until about halfway through the book that is was the second book in the One Night of Passion series. It stood alone well, and now I’m really excited to read the first book, Addicted to You (written by Beth Kery as Bethany Kane) and 2 related novellas.

4 out of 5

The Series: (including novella’s 1.5 & 1.6)

Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

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

four-stars

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Guest Review: Rescue My Heart by Jill Shalvis

Posted November 29, 2012 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Renee’s review of Rescue My Heart (Animal Magnetism, Book 3) by Jill Shalvis

After a tragic stint in the National Guards, Adam Connelly returns to Idaho and to Belle Haven, the animal shelter he owns with his brothers. All Adam wants is to be alone. Then he opens the door to the past—the woman whose heart he once broke. Still gorgeous, still tough-as-nails, but this time, unusually vulnerable.

Holly Reid learned the hard way to never depend on a man for anything. Now, of all men, it’s the last one she wants to see, and the only one she needs. Her father has gone missing in the Bitterroot Mountains and she could use someone with tracking skills to help find him.

For Holly and Adam, each with their ghosts, a trek this desperate, this unpredictable, and this intimate, will have its share of risks—including opening their hearts one more time.

Jill Shalvis is one of my go-to authors when I want fun romance with good character development and smart dialogue. With Rescue My Heart, she really delivered.

Rescue My Heart is the third installment of the Animal Magnetism series. Each book has focused on a Connelly brother, and this is book is Adam’s, who is still healing from a tragic event in Afghanistan.

When Holly, the girl he loved—and then left— comes to him asking for help with locating her father, he is unable to remain unaffected by the feelings that come rushing back to him.

I found Holly to be one of my favorite Shalvis heroine’s. Holly really knows herself and what she wants. She likes who she has become, even though some of who she is is a result of Adam leaving her when she was 18, and of her failed marriage.

Holly doesn’t buy into Adam’s leaving town “for her own good” when they were young, and lets him know she sees it as macho high-handedness (just like her father, brother, and ex-husband behave) and Adam’s fear of his being vulnerable to her. When Holly realizes that she wants more from Adam than a quickie “reunion,” she goes about pursuing a relationship in a way that never comes across as needy. She’s straightforward and honest about it, and also clear-eyed enough about Adam to know that— at least in the beginning— he is not ready for a serious relationship. He still has some healing to do.

Adam has survived tragedy, and is working hard to deal with the PTSD that continues to affect him. I love that as alpha as he is, he is able to accept both professional help, and the support of his family. It was great how his brother, Dell, especially, would find ways to be there for Adam, whether it was to tease him out of a broody mood, or go with him to a mountain top so they could yell out their pent up emotions.

Sometimes when a hero or heroine is resistant to a relationship, and it’s hard for me to understand why — other than that it’s a needed source of conflict between the main characters. But with Adam, it’s clear that he feels damaged by his experience in Afghanistan, and has not yet healed enough to lower the defenses he needed to get himself through his trauma.

As his involvement with Holly progresses, it’s great to see the mini-epiphanies he has about his feelings for her, and how she slowly becomes more and more necessary to him. It’s as if Adam has encased himself in ice, and with each encounter with Holly, he melts a little more.

This was one of those books that (knowing I was reading it for review) I just kept marking passages that revealed Holly and Adam, and showed that as their relationship developed, they grew into a HEA that they couldn’t have had when they were teens.

Another thing I really enjoyed about Rescue My Heart was the relationship between the brothers. Dell, Adam, and Brady all give each other a hard time, but it’s clear that they really care about each other. Dell and Brady don’t hesitate to butt in when they think Adam is being stupid about Holly and needs to fix things with her.

The only thing that felt a little out of place for me was how Holly’s ex-husband kept popping up. She seemed well and truly over him, and his presence in the story felt unnecessary to the development of Adam’s and Holly’s romance, and the conflict the ex brought with him felt like a distraction, more than something that helped advance the story.

However, that was s a minor issue, and was easy to set aside.

In the end, I felt like this was a great read. It hit all of the high points for me: character development, real emotion, and Shalvis’ trademark sense of humor. Now that all three Connelly brothers have found their HEA, I really hope that the series will continue. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Holly’s brother Griffin and her best friend Kate will get the next book. Their chemistry in Rescue My Heart was palpable, and it seems like there’s some yet-to-be-revealed history between them.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Series:

 Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

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

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Guest Review: Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey

Posted December 15, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 3 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance


Renee’s review of Beauty and the Werewolf (Five Hundred Kingdoms, book 6) by Mercedes Lackey.

The eldest daughter is often doomed in fairy tales. But Bella— Isabella Beauchamps, daughter of a wealthy merchant—vows to escape the usual pitfalls.

Anxious to avoid the Traditional path, Bella dons a red cloak and ventures into the forbidden forest to consult with “Granny,” the local wisewoman.

But on the way home she’s attacked by a wolf—who turns out to be a cursed nobleman! Secluded in his castle, Bella is torn between her family and this strange man who creates marvelous inventions and makes her laugh—when he isn’t howling at the moon.

Breaking spells is never easy. But a determined beauty, a wizard (after all, he’s only an occasional werewolf) and a little godmotherly interference might just be able to bring about a happy ending.…

When I requested Beauty and the Werewolf from the library, I didn’t realize it was part six in the on-going Five Hundred Kingdoms series. I hate to read series out of order, and if I had known this, I probably wouldn’t have requested it. However, it was an impulse request, since I had was really intrigued by the fresh interpretation of the fairy tale characters and storylines. (For example, I love how “Granny” is more of a title for wisewoman, than a grandmother. The same goes for “Fairy Godmother”—very cool take on my expectations from the fairy tales.) I’m glad I did break my usual rule, and read Beauty and the Werewolf, even though it was out of order.

The story itself was well told enough that I never felt like I was missing any important information covered in the previous books, and the background to the Five Hundred Kingdoms was delivered in a natural way that blended seamlessly with the plot.

Bella is a very capable and independent heroine. Her self-absorbed, hypochondriac step-mother, and her light-hearted and benignly superficial step-sisters have no idea that Bella manages them and the household to the extent that she does. She feels that she has her life under control. Then, she is bitten by a wolf while retuning from a visit with the local Granny, who lives in the woods.

Suddenly, she is very much not in control, swept away to Duke Sebastian’s remote castle, and told that she must stay there for the next three months, so it can be determined if she, too, is now a werewolf. To add insult to injury, she also learns that the bookish, unassuming Duke is also the werewolf that bit her.

There were many things I really enjoyed about Beauty and the Werewolf.

I found the concept of Tradition that underpins the series really interesting. This idea is that the people who live in the Five Hundred Kingdoms tend to fall into types: the “Stepmother,” the “Woodsman,” etc., and the Tradition is a force that nudges people to act consistent with their fairytale storylines, often to the detriment of the individual person, since many of these tales end tragically. I thought it added a really original element to character motivations, since those who are aware of the Tradition must fight against it (or at least consciously decide if their decisions are their own) if they want to be truly happy.

There were some really unique characters in Beauty and the Werewolf, especially the servants, who were all magically enchanted and invisible. Yet, they still had distinct personalities, and Bella came up with ingenious ways to interact with them.

Character growth is really important to me in a story, and Bella grows and learns new things about herself though out the book. She sometimes comes off as a bit of a Mary Sue, so self-possessed, and able to do everything perfectly that she tries out. However, there are also some lessons she learns about the downfalls of always thinking she knows what is best—for herself, and for those around her. It was these learning moments that humanized her for me, and made her a likable character.

Unfortunately, it was in the romance, where the story fell short for me. I never really felt the chemistry between her and the hero. For the first two-thirds of the book, he isn’t in enough of the story, in my opinion. Also, compared to Bella’s strong and vibrant personality, and compared to other characters, who are more much more interesting, he sort of fades into the background. Also, when he declares himself to Bella, there just wasn’t enough chemistry between them for me to feel truly invested in their relationship.

However, overall, I really enjoyed Beauty and the Werewolf, and will probably go back and track down the first five installments of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. I’m especially interested in learning Godmother Elena’s story, which is told in the first book of the series, The Fairy Godmother.

3 out of 5.

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

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Guest Review: Day of the Dragon by Rebecca York

Posted March 10, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 3 Comments

Publisher: Berkley, PenguinGenres: Paranormal Romance

Renee’s review of Day of the Dragon by Rebecca York

Beautiful archaeologist Madison Dartmoor unearths an astonishing find, one of vast importance to a handsome stranger—a man who is not human, and who holds a dangerous secret that may break her heart.

I was really excited to read Day of the Dragon. I love me some dragons—and dragon shifters— and I’ve been meaning to read more of Rebecca York’s Moon series, after enjoying Night Season a couple of years ago. Yet, as optimistic as I was starting the book, I had to put the book down after 100 pages.

The plot itself was interesting: Madison discovers something on an archaeological dig that mysterious bad guys are determined to get their hands on; a brooding and wounded Ramsay, a dragon shifter, is drawn to Madison and wants to find out more about her discovery.

Yet, unfortunately, I never could fully like either Madison or Ramsay.

Ramsay’s high-handed ways came across less as Alpha-ness, and more like creepiness. When they go to his hotel room after he averts a kidnap attempt on Madison, he begins to glamour her to find out more about her discovery. Once he begins to get information from her, he continues to work his mojo:

“I’m so sorry,” he said, sliding closer, moving slowly. When he reached for her, she stiffened for a moment, and he sent her calming thoughts.
It’s ok. You like me. You trust me. You want me to hold you. You want to be in my arms.
She made a small sighing sound, then relaxed.
“It feels like we’ve know each other for a long time,” he murmured.
“Yes.” ……He had taken her in his arms because he wanted information from her, but holding her was interfering with his ability to think clearly as lust clouded his brain. Or maybe “need” was a more polite word. He’d left himself unfulfilled last night. He knew that was part of the problem. The fragmenting of his abilities was another.
The Ramsay Gallagher of old would have been in complete control of this situation. Now he couldn’t even tell exactly what she was feeling.
She raised her head, staring at him, the mixture of intense heat and confusion on her face making his throat tighten.
“What are we doing? she whispered.
“Getting to know each other better.”
“We can’t…do this.”
“Why not?”
“I just met you.”
“We won’t do anything you don’t want to do.” How many times had he used that line, knowing he was a master of swaying a woman’s decision?

He later goes on to think that if she recoils, he would pull away (she doesn’t), but given how much he’s already glamored her, her judgment was already impaired. For me, even though they didn’t end up having sex due to an interruption, this smacked more of coercion and less of romance.

As for Madison, she was passive to the point of inertia. This was partly due to Ramsay’s “glamouring” of her to make her go along with his plans. But, it was also that she repeatedly had this thought process of: “Oh, I shouldn’t do this.” Then, “Well, ok, I’ll do it” without any real motivation other than that was where the plot needed to go.

In an effort to escape the bad guys, they run to his remote lair, which is outfitted with security cameras (he creepily watches her while she sleeps, of course) and a secret bomb shelter/underground cave/Indian ceremonial chamber. No, seriously. The book hit the wall when he suggests that they will learn more if she puts on a Native American leather shift he just happened to have around (he has a matching loincloth), they inhale ceremonial herbs to “open (their) minds”, and go on a “visionquest”. And, her reaction? She doesn’t even question him on the out-there randomness of this suggestion. She just says, “Okay, let’s do it.”

At this point, I found that I couldn’t go on, even trying to read it as a light, campy, wtf kind of read.

DNF. For what I did read 2 out of 5

Have any of you read books by Rebecca York? Are there ones that you’d recommend?

Read more from Renee at Renee’s Book Addiction

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

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