Tag: Susan Donovan

Throwback Thursday Review: The Girl Most Likely To… by Susan Donovan

Posted February 22, 2018 by Casee in Reviews | 10 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: The Girl Most Likely To… by Susan DonovanReviewer: Casee
The Girl Most Likely To... by Susan Donovan
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: December 30th 2008
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 340
Add It: Goodreads
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four-half-stars

Kat Cavanaugh was sixteen when she hitchhiked out of Persuasion, West Virginia and vowed never to return. Who could blame her? She'd just stumbled upon her father's adulterous affair, found out she was pregnant, got dumped by her boyfriend, and kicked out of her house and school . . . all in a single afternoon. Twenty years have gone by and Kat's back—gorgeous, rich, and looking for an apology from everyone who'd turned their backs on her. First on that list is Riley Bohland, the boy who broke her heart before she could tell him about the baby.

But Kat didn't count on Riley having his own axe to grind, or that he'd be just as delicious as he was at sixteen. She also didn't count on her heart opening at the sight of him. When their anger ignites a passion intense enough to burn through two decades of secrets and lies, Kat must question everything she thought she knew about her past. And what about her future? The only place to find the answers may be in Riley's arms…

***Every Thursday in 2018 we will be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books.

This review was originally posted on December 29, 2008.

I adore Susan Donovan. She writes some of the best contemporaries I’ve ever read. He Loves Lucy and Take a Chance on Me are a few of my favorite contemps of all time. That’s why I was so disappointed when I read that this would be Susan’s last contemporary. I mean, wtf?

Kat Cavanaugh left home at sixteen, alone and pregnant. When she went to tell her boyfriend that she was going to have a baby, he dumped her before she got the chance. Kat left town that night and has never returned. Until now, twenty years later. After coming into some unexpected money, Kat decides to return Persuasion to show her parents and Riley Bohland that she made it just fine without them. Little did she know what she would find.

Riley never knew that Kat was pregnant that long ago night. Being pressured by his father to break-up with Kat, he only did it to appease his father and fully intended to get back together with her. He had known that Kat was the one for him years ago, but everyone said that they were too young to know that. So when he found out that Kat left town without a word, he was devestated. That’s until he found out her secret a little more than eighteen years later.

Kat is stunned at Riley’s anamosity toward her. What right does he have to act like he was wronged? She was the one that was dumped, pregnant and alone at sixteen. To Kat’s dismay, the explosive attraction between them at sixteen was even more prominent at thirty six. Even with all the unsolved issues between them, Riley and Kat can’t stay away from each other.

While this book wasn’t up there with He Loves Lucy and Take a Chance on Me, it still had Donovan’s trademark humor. There were a few things the book could have gone without, including Kat’s psychotic father. There was already Riley’s stalker ex-girlfriend and the Bed-and-Breakfast owner who decided that she wanted Riley’s brother, even though he was already taken. Any one of these things by itself would have been okay, but all three together was a tad over the top.

Another thing I think Donovan did a great job on was the confrontation between Kat and her son, Aidan. Finding out he had a father after twenty years is not something that Aidan easily accepts. Especially since the mother he has loved so deeply lied to him. The book wouldn’t have been as good if Aidan would have easily accepted that Kat lied to him. Also, the reunion between father and son is “awwww” inducing.

Overall, I loved this book which makes me that much more disappointed that it will be her last contemp. Boo. and am so excited that she’s coming out with a new trilogy next year. w00t!

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.

four-half-stars

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TBR Challenge Review: Real Men Do It Better Anthology by Carrie Alexander, Susan Donovan, Lora Leigh & Lori Wilde

Posted August 15, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 2 Comments

This month in the TBR Challenge we were instructed (ok, it was only suggested) to read an erotic novel. I found that I really don’t have many of those hanging around. Sure there are some on my flash drive with all my ebooks but quite frankly I was too damned lazy to go searching. Lol I saw this book on my shelf and realized that when I originally got it in 2008 I only read Lora Leigh’s novella. I decided that since it said, right on the cover, “four steamy novellas” that it would qualify for this challenge. So here are my thoughts about whether real men really do make it better.

In Carrie Alexander’s HIS BODY ELECTRIC, an aloof stranger arrives at Karen Jaffe’s farmhouse seeking shelter at the height of a violent lightning storm. Strange events follow–the power goes out, every clock stops, sparks fly from the visitor’s fingertips. Alone in the dark with him, Karen uses her skills as a phone sex operator to seduce the mystery man, uncovering the secrets and erotic pleasures of HIS BODY ELECTRIC.

Karen is on her Iowa farm when the skies open up and the rain pours down. Thunder and lightning accompany the storm and Karen rushes to get the animals in the barn. On the way back she runs into a stranger who is seeking shelter from the storm. He’s a bit odd but oh so cute and since she’s been by herself for so long she’s kind of got sex on the brain. Keeping her hands off of Gabe is pretty difficult and eventually they give in to their attraction in an electrifying way.

This was a pretty darned cute novella. I really liked how the story was laid out and the way the author had the couple getting to know each other a bit before falling into bed together. Ok, it wasn’t like they knew each other for long, really only hours before they made their move, but it worked for this erotic novella. There was a little bit of the unusual in this one but it worked.

In Susan Donovan’s BED AND BREAKFAST, a stressed-out corporate dynamo with designer boots and a bad attitude is sent to the New Mexico mountains to “get centered” or not come back to Los Angeles. She arrives at the rustic Windwalker Lodge north of Santa Fe, only to find the place in the middle of a renovation and the hunky owner in a pair of lounge pants with no shirt and no idea she was coming. She plans to leave on the first available shuttle the next morning, but one of the area’s notorious rains washes out the bridge, and she’s stuck. Though resistant at first, she eventually lets the beautiful setting and the extraordinary man give her a new perspective on life, love, and especially sex.

Kate is having a bad life. Seriously, it has been one hit after another and she needs to de-stress. Her boss sends her to a retreat in new Mexico to relax and “find herself.” She’s nothing but bitchy when she gets dropped off at 1 am and when she’s not immediately let in and continues that way for a couple of days. She soon finds out that her assistant got the dates mixed up and she’s a month late for her planned pilgrimage. Oops. Jorey lets her stay the night (on his bed since all the guest rooms are being remodeled and are demolished) but when a rain storm keeps Kate at the lodge she finds that there’s more to finding herself then she thought. She’s also found a man she could love but how will that work when she lives in LA?

This was another cute novella that had a bitchy heroine to start. She soon got to relax and get a bit centered but it takes her a bit to get to that point. When it did happen it was almost too extreme but I could see how it might happen in reality. Jorey, our hero, is someone who was living the same kind of fast-paced life as Kate was when reality hit him in the face with a medical issue a few years back. Now he runs the lodge and is more than happy with his life. I think what I liked about Jorey was that even though he was more spiritual/fruit and nut (if that makes any sense) than I normally like in my heroes he accepted Kate for who she was. Of course he wanted her at peace, but he didn’t try to push his ways on her too much. He was a caring and sensitive man while still being quite manly. You gotta love that in a hero.

In Lora Leigh’s FOR MAGGIE’S SAKE, Maggie Chavez from Leigh’s sexy Navy SEALs series is in protective custody with a member of her former lover’s SEALs team. Joe, her ex-lover, thinks Maggie is hiding information from him about a powerful drug lord and the deaths of some SEALs. He intends to seduce her and get the information before she can sell it back to the drug cartel. But when a member of the notorious crime family captures Maggie and holds her hostage at gunpoint, Joe realizes how wrong he is, and only he can save her life.

Joe and Maggie were lovers at one point. Because of a misunderstanding, and some stupidity on Joe’s part, they parted ways and Maggie ended up married to Joe’s best friend Grant. Now this is a novella that is part of the Tempting SEALS series and apparently Grant was a bad guy – now he’s dead. He wrote journals and in those journals he completely implicated Maggie as being part of his criminal activities. Now she’s under suspicion from the police and the bad guys are after her thinking she knows too much. Joe ends up taking her to a safe house and while there the pair work out their differences.

I read this novella in 2008 and frankly I could remember about 3 pages of it near the end. Lol I kept thinking, I read this? Really? When I got to those 3 pages a switch flipped in my head my memories came back. 🙂

While they’re at the safe house they finally start talking about their past. They argue and argue and they both see that they’ve made mistakes. I liked how we saw Joe coming off his high horse a bit as he thought he’d done nothing wrong and that their breakup had pretty much all been Maggie’s doing. Of course they end up sleeping together and working things out but they have to go through some hard times, including facing death, to come to their HEA. The story was more intense than I was expecting after reading the first two books in the anthology but it was good. You gotta appreciate Leigh’s alpha males but this one wasn’t such an ass and I liked that. Maggie was a bit whimpier than I expected a man like Joe to be in love with but she had been through hell with her husband so I cut her a little slack. lol

In Lori Wilde’s SIREN’S CALL, Annie Grave is back in her hometown, St. Augustine, looking after her grandfather’s dive shop as he lies bedridden with a broken hip. Though she is a Harvard MBA with a high-powered finance job in Manhattan and a boyfriend on the brink of proposing marriage, she’s never forgotten her first love, sun-bronzed dive instructor Duncan Stewart–or the day years earlier when she lost her virginity to him and he told her it was just a fling. But what she doesn’t know is that Duncan has regretted that decision every day since. Afraid of not being able to hold onto a smart, sexy, beautiful woman like Annie, he pushed her away and ran away from St. Augustine. But now she’s back, and so is he, and he’s cooked up a plan to win her back. After all, what girl could resist the lure of buried treasure, and a hot, handsome Scotsman to guide her on the hunt?

Duncan and Annie met when he was 16 and she was 13. Even though Duncan liked Annie immediately he didn’t do anything about it. They became friends and over the years Duncan planned to make himself a better man and then make his move on Annie. When they eventually sleep together Duncan realizes that he’s holding her back and hurts her in order to make her live the life that she should, instead of giving up college to stay with him.

Annie has been hurting for 5 years after Duncan’s betrayal of her feelings. Now he’s back and says that he has a treasure map to a legendary idol that her parents died searching for. Annie tells herself that she wants nothing to do with the man and she’s practically engaged to a nice man back in New York, but she can’t seem to keep herself away. For Duncan this is a plan to finally get Annie where he wants her – in his bed and in his life – permanently. If he has to use an idol that is supposedly an aphrodisiac to get her, he’ll do it.

This was a lovers united story but since Duncan had hurt Annie so much she wasn’t exactly thrilled with his return to town. Now secretly she’s in love with him but is unwilling to face being hurt again. Duncan didn’t exactly go about getting Annie back in the most honest way – ok, it wasn’t honest at all, but he was so desperate that he’d try just about anything to get her back in his life. It was a cute story and definitely hot – the hottest in the anthology, imho.

Actually the Alexander, the Leigh and the Wilde were all pretty steamy in different ways. The Donovan had sex involved but it wasn’t anywhere near as erotic as the others. Overall I liked all the stories in their own way. They each brought a different view of erotic romance to the table and I found them all to be good stories.

Overall Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Carrie Alexander
Susan Donovan
Lora Leigh
Lori Wilde

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What I Read Last Week

Posted August 13, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 7 Comments

It was a much quieter week this week – thank heavens! lol I did have to register my oldest for High School which was a bit painful for me – emotionally, not physically – but I made it through. Both girls start school on Thursday and they’re both excited.

Not much else happened – of which I was completely thrilled with so I’ll get on to what I read this past week:

My first read was for Book Binge and it was a historical called When You Wish Upon A Duke by Isabella Bradford. The story was about an Earl’s daughter who had been living in the quiet countryside with her sisters and mother after the death of her father years earlier. The oldest daughter is shocked when a man of business shows up and lets her know that she’s been engaged for most of her life and to a Duke no less. While Charlotte isn’t sure what she should expect she’s thrilled when she meets the duke and he is all that is kind and handsome. The duke is thrilled with Charlotte as well but he has some past issues that keep the pair from moving to a deeper relationship. I really liked this book a lot. I liked the characters and the fact that they weren’t hateful to each other but attracted and kind to one another. The duke issues weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, when revealed, but I could see why he would have them. Overall it was a good story. 4.25 out of 5

Next up was One Real Thing by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox. In this story we have two friends – one taking care of the other when he’s hit rock bottom and coming to realize that he loves his friend in more ways than one. The other friend who is thrilled to be helped but tormented by the feelings he’s always had for his good friend. They help each other in many different ways throughout the book and it’s very good. I really liked both the men in this story and liked the story itself. I did think that the story ran on a bit long after the I Love You’s were said – just pages of the reaffirmation of their love, really, and it got a bit old. I also didn’t really care for the odd and semi-sudden appearance of submission by one of the men. It was touched upon earlier in the book but not enough for me to think that level of submission would appear. Maybe it was just me. shrugs Still a really good story and definitely worth reading. 4 out of 5

The Reluctant Amazon by Sandy James was next. This is the first book in a new series by Sandy and it was darned good. Rebecca is a Kindergarten teacher and was planning on getting married until her fiancé left her at the altar and she then finds out she’s an Amazon. What? lol It’s much more in depth than that and I’ll go into it more when I post my review later in the month. 4.25 out of 5

A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare was next and it was Oh. So. Good. I love her Spindle Cove series and she didn’t disappoint with this book. The story revolves around the local music teacher, Kate Taylor, and Corporal Thorne of the local militia. Kate’s an orphan but then is possibly a Marquess’s daughter. She hates Thorne, but then she loves him. Oh it was so good. I’ll post my review next week of this wonderful book. 5 out of 5

Pyromancer by Amanda Young was my Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week. This is the story of Christian who has some weird powers having to do with fire. He can sometimes control it but he can supposedly hurt someone when he gets too emotional . He’s not been with a man for a long time and decides to call and escort service. He gets hooked up with Tanner and after that one night can’t stop thinking about Tanner. He ends up helping Tanner after he gets beaten up and the two end up in bed together. They have communication issues about what their relationship is and it causes great angst. I liked this book and the whole premise behind it all. The problems I had with the story were that A) We’re told that Christian can hurt someone with his powers when he gets too worked up but we never actually see that. He gets plenty worked up with Tanner during sex but the powers never appear to be a problem. B) We have to wait until the end of the book to find out that Christian has no clue why he has the powers – he just does. It would have been lovely to have known that ahead of time. I didn’t feel that that info should have been held back. Besides those niggles I really liked the story and read it quite quickly. 3.5 out of 5

Last for the week was the Real Men Do It Better anthology by Carrie Alexander, Susan Donovan, Lora Leigh and Lori Wilde. I read this one for my monthly TBR Challenge and will post my review on Wednesday.

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Wild Texas Rose by Jodi Thomas

Happy Reading!

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TBR Challenge Review: The Kept Woman by Susan Donovan

Posted May 18, 2011 by Tracy in Reviews | 3 Comments

This month’s TBR Challenge theme was arranged marriage/pretend engagement. I figured I had a few arranged marriages in my TBR but I had no idea I had so many pretend engagement books – there were about 5 to choose from – who knew? lol

WHEN A GOOD-GIRL DIVORCÉE Playing by the rules has left Samantha Monroe with an AWOL ex-husband, maxed out credit cards, and the task of raising three children on a hairstylist’s salary. It’s time for a new game plan. When Sam learns that politician Jack Tolliver needs someone to play the part of his fiancée for six months in return for a generous paycheck, she’s ready to sign up on the spot.

MEETS A BAD-BOY POLITICIAN
Jack needs Sam and her kids to help tone down his image from womanizing cad to dependable dad. But he was expecting Sam to be a frumpy single mom, not a wickedly smart, sexy redhead. Keeping nosey newshounds from discovering that his engagement is a charade is going to be a tough job, but one mind-blowing kiss from Sam and suddenly Jack is ready to put in all the overtime necessary…

LOVE WINS IN A LANDSLIDE…
Now, with scheming opponents itching to bring Jack down, Sam’s ex returning to stir up trouble, one stubborn pre-schooler, two squabbling teenagers, a crazy dog, and some out-of-this-world sex, Jack and Sam are discovering that playing make-believe can be complicated—but not nearly as much as falling in love…

Three years ago Samantha Monroe’s hubby told her he was gay and then left her with two kids and one on the way. She’s worked her ass off as a hair stylist to try to be a good and attentive mom while keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. But she’s exhausted! When her friend and hair client, Kara, approaches her with a proposition she takes it. But she’s not dumb redhead, she makes sure that the details are hammered out to her liking and that her kids are taken care of.

The proposition? Pose as a senatorial candidate’s fiancé for six months. She gets to move in to the family mansion, her kids get to go to private school and she gets a monthly stipend – what could be better?
The reason behind the whole farce? Well, the senatorial candidate is considered a playboy and a misogynistic pig. The voters don’t want someone like that as a Senator and so Jack’s “people” came up with the scheme to show him in a better light – more of a family man.
The problem? Even though Jack is warned to only “act” like he’s in love with Samantha – the pair can’t seem to keep their hands off of each other.

So the details of the game are hacked out and everyone is satisfied – but when Jack first meets Samantha he feels “different” about her than he has other women. He tries to stay away but he can’t and since Samantha hasn’t had sex in 18 months – and even then it was really bad – she’s up for playing some bedroom games with Jack.

Now Samantha for being as smart as she was really fell hard and quick for Jack and I had to think that maybe she should have waited longer – but Jack was quite the ladies man and knew how to work it so Samantha came over to his way of thinking. Jack – for all of his reputation was a nice guy. We were told that he was this awful man who just played with women but we never really saw that in his interactions with Sam. From the moment he met her he was a nice, polite guy. Yeah, he had sex on the brain all the time but really, how is that different from any other man? lol The two of them together were quite lovely.

I would have loved to have seen more interactions with Jack and Sam’s older children but they showed him more with her 3 year old and I guess the toddlers are harder to deal with.

In the book we also met Christy who had a huge bone to pick with Jack since he really treated her badly and since she was a journalist with her own show she took that position and used it to get back at Jack for all his previous wrong-doing. I didn’t like this woman or what she was doing at all but that was the whole point so I guess it was written well since it put me on edge. 🙂

Overall a really cute book.

Rating 4 out of 5

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What I Read Last Week

Posted May 16, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 10 Comments

It was a pretty good week here in Tracyland. No complaints which is always a good thing.
Diet and exercise – exercised twice and lost no weight. I’d be upset about that but seeing as with PMS I usually gain 3 so I’m pretty happy with staying even. lol Total lost still 2.2 pounds.
Hubby and I went to an auction at my work and I ended up with an iPod shuffle (for only the price of a $1.00 raffle ticket – woohoo!) Anyone have one? Can you put audio books on those or do they shuffle the chapters? lol Just curious.
Good reading week this past week:
My first read for the week was Man from Tennessee by Jennifer Greene. This was a reunion story between a married couple that’s been separated for 5 years. I’ll post my review on Friday. 🙂
Next up was Claimed by Desire by KayAnna Kirby. This was the story of a woman who had a one night stand with the hopes that more could come from it but when she woke in the morning the man was gone. Now she’s pregnant and runs the man again. He wants them to be together but she’s resisting. You can read my review here. 2 out of 5
My next read was actually a re-read of a book that hasn’t come out yet. How can you do that, you might ask. Well it was Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh and it comes out at the end of the month. When Holly first sent it to me in March to read and review for The Book Binge I gobbled that sucker up and loved it! I know, I didn’t tell you – I’m so mean. I wanted to give it a couple of months and then re-read and see if I felt the same about the book now that I’d read it and it was just as good if not better the second time around. This is Hawke’s story. He’s the alpha of the SnowDancer wolf changeling pack and he and the Psy, Sienna, have been circling each other for years. She was way too young before but he’s finally made his move. Along with the awesome romance we get lots of political Psy/Changeling conflict and it was just SO.GOOD. Excellent book. 5 out of 5
Rinse and Repeat by Amberly Smith was the story of Peat the repeater who is trying to save the life of Jake and finds himself falling in love. It’s a great story and one I’d recommend. You can read my review here. 3.75 out of 5
Devil’s Own by Veronica Wolff is book 2 in the Clan MacAlpin series and I really liked this book. The story was about Aidan who was kidnapped 13 years prior and worked as a slave until he escaped. Now he’s at home and trying to find the man who kidnapped him. But he needs assistance and finds it in a neighbor, Elspeth, who helps him learn to read while he works on her family farm to pay for the lessons. This was a very sweet romance that I really enjoyed. There was definitely some intense moments with Aidan and kidnappers but for the most part just a nice romance. 4.25 out of 5 (read for The Book Binge)
I haven’t read any Yaoi Manga for a while – bad Tracy! I only had one – Stallion by Kosen. While I really liked the graphics I didn’t really like the stories all that much. The Stallion story was the best of the three but very abbreviated. There was a lot of advertising in the book– one including what looked like a full grown man and a boy of about 12 – ewww. 2 out of 5
One of my Tracy’s TBR Challenge reads for the week was Cruel Enchantment by Anya Bast. This is book 2 in the Dark Magick series and it was a good one. The story was about Emmaline who is Seelie but had escaped imprisonment when the rest of the Fae was walled and warded into their own area. She was an assassin back then and had accidentally killed Aeric’s love. Aeric hates Emmaline and wants to kill her but when he has the chance he finds himself changing his mind. I really liked this story it had a lot of ins and outs that made the story that much better. At first I didn’t see the romance as Aeric started falling for Emmaline but in the end I was happy to see them together. 4 out of 5
Last for the week was another Tracy’s TBR Challenge read that I read for Wendy’s TBR Challenge – the Kept Woman by Susan Donovan. This was a pretend engagement story (the theme for May) and it was a good one. I’ll post my review on Wednesday.
My Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
Happy Reading!

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