Tribute by Nora Roberts

Tribute (2008) (Piatkus)
Nora Roberts
Grade: B-
Genre: romantic suspense
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own

TBR RBC 2015: A book by Nora Roberts 

A third generation actress and granddaughter of one of Hollywood’s greats, Cilla McGowan has very deliberately cast off her child actress persona and made a very successful business of renovating houses. Her latest project is a house that’s very dear to her heart: the house of her grandmother, the glamorous and notorious Janet Hardy. Left to ruin after her death by apparent suicide, Cilla plans to restore the house to its former glory. With the whole town invested in her project and Ford, her very hot neighbour and his dog, Spock, just next door looking on, this is the biggest project of Cilla’s career. But there’s someone in the community who wants Janet’s secrets to stay that way and they’re determined to keep Cilla from finishing the house, whatever it takes …

Ransom My Heart by Meg Cabot

Ransom My Heart (2008) (Macmillan)
Meg Cabot
Grade: B--
Genre: medieval romance
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own

TBR RBC 2015: A book by Meg Cabot 

Finnula Craig is the youngest of five sisters and their long-suffering brother, and quite the handful. After their parents died several years ago, Robert has been the head of this family of millers and Finn has only grown more difficult to deal with. A talented archer and hunter, she is a thorn in the local sheriff’s side as she continues to flaunt the law and poach upon the local Earl’s game.

When Finn’s only other unmarried sister lands in trouble, Finn reluctantly agrees to help her out. The local women have taken to ambushing young men and demanding ransom from their families in order to fund local beer-making activities. Finn has no other choice but to take a hostage and hope he’s from a rich family. What Finn doesn’t expect is for her captive to be none other than Hugo Fitzwilliam, the new Earl of Stephensgate. Having just returned from the Holy Land, fighting for King and country, Hugo is sorely tempted by this feisty and audacious slip of a girl who isn’t afraid to sass him. For her part, Finn is just as afraid of losing her freedom as losing her heart …

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Sweethearts (2008) (Little, Brown)
Sara Zarr
Grade: A-
Genre: young adult
Source: own

General RBC 2015: A classic YA novel 

Once upon a time, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were best friends. Social outcasts at school, they came to depend on each other in a way that only they understood. When one day Cameron doesn’t turn up for school and Jennifer is told that he’s dead, her world is turned upside down. Now in high school, Jennifer Harris is no more. ‘Jenna’ has a happy family after her mum remarried, a close-knit group of friends and a doting boyfriend of three months. When Cameron returns out of the blue, Jenna’s life is thrown out-of-sync – again. As their relationship clicks back into place as if picking up where they left off, they are both forced to remember their shared history and Jenna’s new life suddenly hangs in the balance …

The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne

The Spymaster's Lady (2008) (Berkley Sensation)
Joanna Bourne
Grade: A
Genre: historical romance
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own
Spymaster's Lady: (1) The Spymaster's Lady

Romance RBC 2014: A book with a Fabio cover 

Annique Villiers is the best that France has to offer: known as the Fox Cub, she has eluded capture for years with disguises from the tempting courtesan, innocent virgin, young Gypsy boy and educated lady. Now, she’s got France’s terrible secrets weighing on her shoulders and there’s all agencies wanting to get their hands on her to reveal – or suppress – them. Annique’s got her own troubles to deal with and when she’s captured, she meets the one man who she can’t deceive …

Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas

Private Arrangements (2008) (Bantam Dell)
Sherry Thomas
Grade: A
Genre: historical romance
Sex scenes: hot
Source: own

Romance RBC 2014: An AAR Top 100 Book 2010 

Lord and Lady Tremaine are considered to have the best marriage in the entire Ton. A love match is considered vulgar, an unhappy marriage even more so, but what the Tremaines have is a courteous marriage. Given that they haven’t spoken or clapped eyes on one another in ten years, there’s been no opportunity for them to disparage the other in front of friends and family, or for servants to witness marital spats. It is only when Gigi petitions Camden for a divorce that he leaves his new home in America and returns to British soil.

Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas

Blue-Eyed Devil (2008) (Piatkus)
Lisa Kleypas
Grade: A+
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: hot
Source: own 
Travis family: (1) Sugar Daddy, (2) Blue-Eyed Devil

As the youngest and only daughter of the “market wizard” Churchill Travis and society beauty Ava, Haven has always been a bit of a rebel. Churchill has no qualms about setting one standard for his three sons and another for his only daughter, never scared about giving any of his children a big dose of reality. As a result, Haven has always rebelled against what her parents want and expect of her. Haven meets Nick Tanner while studying at her liberal arts college and when she marries Nick without Churchill’s blessing, she’s quickly disinherited.

Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton

Sacrifice (2008)
S. J. Bolton
Grade: A
Genre: gothic thriller horror

Source: library

In my experience, ‘S. J. Bolton’ and ‘happy endings’ are not used together in the same sentence. Now, I’ve only been blogging seven months, but I’ve already reviewed Awakening, Now You See Me, Blood Harvest and Dead Scared; Sacrifice makes it a full complement. I would describe none of the first four titles as having a happy ending. Sure, the crimes are solved, the bad guy is locked away/punished and the protagonists are no longer in danger, but their futures are often left uncertain and Ms Bolton perversely leaves us unsatisfied with the paths she’s made for the characters we’ve come to love. The exception is the secondary couple in Dead Scared, so there’s some hope left in me yet for her future works.

Sacrifice was Ms Bolton’s first novel and it’s a chilling and stunning debut. Annoyingly, it’s the book I’ve read last, but what can you do. It’s terrifyingly good and I’m finding it very hard to measure it against her other novels; one thing I do know is that it is a definite keeper.

One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

One Foot in the Grave (2008)

Jeaniene Frost

Grade: C

Genre: paranormal romance

Sex scenes: hot

Source: library
Night Huntress series: (1) Halfway to the Grave; (2) One Foot in the Grave, (3) At Grave's End

We open with Cat four years older than we saw her last, entering the house of a Master vampire alone. She heads up the supernatural division of the FBI and trains other men to work with her. At the end of HTTG, her future boss, Don, had used threats of exposure to coerce Cat into taking the position and for the safety of her mother, Cat reluctantly agreed. This meant leaving Bones and she hasn’t seen him since.

Who would have guessed that the Master Cat had been sent to exterminate would be Ian, Bones’ sire? Cat suggests to Ian that she and Bones parted on bad terms because she has no wish for Ian to know of the full extent of their relationship, nor for him to communicate to Bones that she still misses him like crazy. Cat can’t bring herself to kill Ian like ordered because without what he did, she would have never met Bones; instead, she allows Ian to run on the condition that she never sees him again. Little does Cat know that this is exactly what will make her Ian’s greatest prize …