Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Prep (2005) (Quality Paperbacks Direct, by arrangement with Picador)
Curtis Sittenfeld
Grade: A-
Genre: young adult
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own

TBR RBC 2015: A classic YA novel 

When 15-year-old Lee Fiora is offered a scholarship at prestigious boarding school Ault, her parents, though puzzled about why she would choose this education, reluctantly allows their eldest child to move away. But boarding school isn’t quite what Lee envisaged after the glossy brochures and her preconceived ideas about what life and classes would be like. Very much an outsider for her four years at Ault, Prep follows Lee as she establishes a tenuous position in the school’s hierarchy, until one thoughtless mistake throws her life into the balance …

Heartbreaker by Linda Howard

Heartbreaker (1987) (Harlequin)
Linda Howard
Grade: A
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: mild

Source: own
Romance RBC 2014: A book with a one-word title

Michelle Cabot has returned to take over her father’s ranch after his death and is faced with the biggest challenge of her life. She’s determined to manage the cattle ranch on her own, however physically challenging, until she realises that her father was heavily in debt to their neighbour, John Rafferty. When Michelle first met John at eighteen years old, she was both intimidated and attracted, but knew that she couldn’t allow either emotion to show, else he lump her in the same category as all the other women who fell at his feet in lust. As a result, Michelle made it her mission to be the iciest bitch in her power and the two have been at odds ever since.

Harder by Robin York

Harder (2014) (Bantam Dell)
Robin York a.k.a. Ruthie Knox
Grade: A+
Genre: New Adult
Sex scenes: hot
Source: NetGalley
Caroline & West: (1) Deeper, (2) Harder

YA Reading Bingo Challenge 2014: A book without a love triangle

A year ago, Caroline Piasecki’s life was turned upside down when she became a victim of revenge porn. Thanks to her ex-boyfriend, everyone at college suddenly knew who she was, what she looked like naked, and she was receiving daily explicit messages from strangers taking advantage of her plight. A less-than-conventional relationship with campus bad-boy West Leavitt makes her happier than she’s ever been, giving her the confidence to overcome this hurdle in her life – until family circumstances force West to give up his scholarship and return home to Oregon.

Deeper by Robin York

Deeper (2014) (Bantam Dell)

Robin York a.k.a. Ruthie Knox

Grade: A+

Genre: New Adult

Sex scenes: hot

Source: NetGalley 

Caroline & West: (1) Deeper, (2) Harder

YA Reading Bingo Challenge 2014: A book that made you cry

Warning: intentionally crude language ahead. 

Caroline Piasecki was always the good girl: a good daughter to her widower father, a good student planning to follow her father into the law and a good girlfriend of three years to her high-school boyfriend. That is, until she broke up with Nate the summer before she returned to Putnam for her sophomore year in what she thought was an amicable break-up. When her naked pictures are suddenly all over the Internet attached with her name, home town and college, Caroline’s knows her good girl status is lost forever. Instead, she’s a slut, a whore, a dirty bitch who deserves what’s coming to her. That’s what the anonymous messages all echo and what the refrain in her head drums repeatedly like a broken record: she deserved it.

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.

Timeless by Gail Carriger

Timeless (2012) (Orbit)
Gail Carriger
Grade: A+
Genre: steampunk / historical
Sex scenes: very mild
Source: own 
Parasol Protectorate: (1) Soulless, (2) Changeless, (3) Blameless, (4) Heartless, (5) Timeless

Alexia Tarrabotti Maccon and her husband, Conall Maccon, have gotten used to their new home in Lord Akeldama’s third closet. A household of vampires and werewolves living next door to each other might theoretically be a recipe for disaster, but Akeldama’s drones (wannabe vampires in waiting) have acclimated well and serve their resident pack without complaint.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkein

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937) (Collins Modern Classics)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Grade: A+
Genre: high fantasy
Source: own

Bilbo Baggins is your ordinary Hobbit from the Shire: he enjoys his food, his comfortable lifestyle in his own hobbit-hole, and the prospect of a leisurely life to the end of his days. Bilbo is descended from the respected Bagginses and the slightly less-respected Tooks – the latter of whom have a great sense of adventure ingrained into them. At fifty years of age, Bilbo has never felt the urge to go off and have jolly adventures of his own – until now.

Night Shield by Nora Roberts

Night Shield (2000) (Silhouette Books)
Nora Roberts
Grade: B+
Genre: romantic suspense
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own
Night Tales: (1) Night Shift, (2) Night Shadow, (3) Nightshade, (4) Night Smoke, (5) Night Shield

The last book of the Night Tales series brings us in a full circle, telling the story of Detective Allison Fletcher, daughter of Captain Boyd Fletcher, hero of the first book of the series. She’s proved herself capable and worthy of her rank, but this is her first proper case and so there’s pressure to shine. Six burglaries over eight weeks has seen $800,000 of easily liquidated possessions stolen, all yet to be recovered. The only link between all the victims is that they were out at a club the night of the burglary – and 5/6 were at Blackhawk’s, Jonah Blackhawk’s newest club.

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

When Beauty Tamed the Beast (2011)
Eloisa James
Grade: A-
Genre: historical romance / fairytale-retelling
Sex scenes: a notch hotter than mild
Source: library
Happily Ever After: (1) A Kiss at Midnight, (2) When Beauty Tamed the Beast, (3) The Duke is Mine, (4) The Ugly Duchess

Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is A Beauty. She takes after her mother (not a good thing) and has the whole Ton at her heels. This has attracted the attention of Prince Augustus and after spotted kissing at a ball, the Ton put this together with her naturally overly-large bosom, and the fact that her dress was particularly voluminous, as if she had something to hide, coming to the scandalous conclusion that she’s pregnant. Her own father doesn’t believe her and overnight, Linnet is no longer the Ton’s pinnacle of innocence.

Along Came Trouble by Ruthie Knox

Along Came Trouble (2013)
Ruthie Knox
Grade: A-
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: hot
Source: NetGalley
Camelot: (1) How to Misbehave, (2) Along Came Trouble, (3) Flirting with Disaster, (4) Making it Last

Ellen Callahan might love her brother to pieces, but the reporters camped out on her driveway and sneaking up to her house from the back woods, are too much to bear for the entertainment-lawyer sister of a world-famous pop star. She has a young son to think of and doesn’t care for the fact that the reporters are making her their subject, second-best for when they can’t get shots of Carly, Ellen’s neighbour. At 7 months pregnant and the recent ex-girlfriend of Jamie Callahan, Carly is hot news, especially since Jamie’s not the father. Jamie might be powerless while he’s in LA, but he’s bringing in reinforcements.

Passion by Lisa Valdez

Passion (2005)
Lisa Valdez
Grade: A-
Genre: historical erotica
Sex scenes: scorching
Source: own
Passion Quartet: (1) Passion

I don’t need to tell you that contemporary erotica is currently taking the publishing world by storm; who knows how long this will go on for, but I’m hoping that it will be a long time. In my books, anything that gets the romance genre more accepted and recognised amongst wider society is a good thing. Historical erotica isn’t nearly as big and I for one hadn’t ever set foot in this territory, mostly because I had no idea where to start. Passion is one of those books that I have meant to read for ages because I’ve heard so much about it; when I saw it on eBay, I leapt at the chance to own it despite knowing absolutely nothing about what it was about, or that it would be as hot as it is. It has its flaws, but boy am I glad that I bought it.

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas

Dream Lake (2012)
Lisa Kleypas
Grade: C+
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: milder than might be expected from Lisa Kleypas
Source: own
Friday Harbour: (1) Christmas Eve at Friday Harbour, (2) Rainshadow Road
   
After getting divorced when her husband left her for another man, Zoë Hoffmann has sworn off men for good. She has teamed up with her feisty, outgoing cousin Justine to set up a B&B on Friday Harbour and business is booming. With Zoë in charge of all the cooking and baking, she’s in her element and very content with life.

Zoë’s mum abandoned her when she was young and her father followed suit by passing her off onto his mother. When she gets news that ‘Upsie,’ as she calls her grandmother, has had a series of mini-strokes, developed vascular dementia and will require constant care, Zoë doesn’t even consider any other option but moving Upsie in with her. Upsie owns a small lake house in Friday Harbour, but years of neglect and disuse has made it uninhabitable and it will need extensive repairs in order to adapt it to Upsie’s needs. Luckily, Justine knows just the man for the job: Alex Nolan.