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.

The Wicked Wedding of Miss Ellie Vyne by Jayne Fresina

The Wicked Wedding of Miss Ellie Vyne (2013) (Sourcebooks Casablanca)
Jayne Fresina
Grade: C
Genre: historical romance
Sex scenes: hot
Source: NetGalley/own
Sydney Dovedale: (1) The Most Improper Miss Sophie Valentine, (2) The Wicked Wedding of Miss Ellie Vyne

Romance RBC 2014: A book with a heroine in disguise 

In order to finance her step-father’s expensive tastes and keep the creditors at bay, Miss Ellie Vyne is prone to dressing up as the Count de Bonneville and conning London’s Ton of their money and most precious jewels. When she lifts a diamond necklace off the deplorable Miss Ophelia Southwold, what Ellie doesn’t realise is that what she has in her possession is the Hartley Diamonds, belonging to her childhood nemesis, James Hartley. James tracks down the ‘Count’ to a rowdy inn, only to walk in on a nearly naked Ellie with the diamonds and the count nowhere to be found …

Concealed in Death by J.D. Robb

Concealed in Death (2014) (Piatkus)
J.D. Robb a.k.a. Nora Roberts
Grade: B
Genre: romantic suspense
Sex scenes: mild
Source: library
In Death: (1) Naked in Death ... (34) Celebrity in Death, (35) Delusion in Death, (38) Concealed in Death

Romance RBC 2014: A book with a cop/PI heroine 

When Roarke ceremoniously takes the first swing in demolishing a run-down building he’s got plans for, he’s hoping it will be the start of a successful venture. What he doesn’t expect to find is two carefully wrapped bundles of plastic, containing the bodies of two teenage girls who have been buried behind a false wall for fifteen years. A more thorough inspection of the building is thus only natural, eventually bringing to light an even dozen bodies.

This case hits hard to home for Lieutenant Eve Dallas. The building used to be a sanctuary for delinquents and teenagers who had nowhere else to go. This stark reminder of her own time in-and-out of foster homes only pushes her harder to find the killer, revealing an elaborate cover-up that has left far too many families wondering whether their daughters are still alive, for too long.

Roman Holiday: The Complete Adventure by Ruthie Knox

Roman Holiday: The Complete Adventure (2014) (Loveswept) (serial)
Ruthie Knox
Grade: A-
Genre: contemporary romance/funny
Sex scenes: hot
Source: NetGalley

RBC 2014: A funny book 

Ashley Bowman will do anything and everything she can to stop her late grandmother’s Florida Keys holiday resort being knocked down by a developer – even chain herself to a tree on the grounds just as a hurricane is about to hit. Once she meets Roman Diaz, she’s determined to prove to him exactly how his plans are going to affect the elderly community who have been visiting the resort for years – even if it means she has to drag him across the country to do it.

Black Hills by Nora Roberts

Black Hills (2009) (Piatkus)
Nora Roberts
Grade: B+
Genre: romantic suspense
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own

Romance RBC 2014: A book with more than 500 pages 

When Cooper is packed off to his grandparents’ farm in South Dakota for the summer, aged 11, while his parents ‘work’ on their marriage, he’s convinced that this will be the worst summer of his life. No baseball camp, no live games at Yankee Stadium and no friends to help alleviate his boredom. Instead, he’s got weeks of collecting eggs, mucking out stalls and chores to look forward to. Similarly, he’s resigned to dislike neighbour Lil Chance on sight simply for the reason that she’s a girl, but what he doesn’t expect is for this unlikely friendship to be the most important and meaningful of his entire life.

The Last Good Knight by Tiffany Reisz

The Last Good Knight (2014) (serial) (Harlequin MIRA)
I: Scars and Stripes, II: Sore Spots, III: The Games Destiny Plays, IV: Fit to be Tied, V: The Last Good Knight
Tiffany Reisz
Grade: A
Genre: contemporary / erotica
Sex scenes: HOT
Source: NetGalley

Romance RBC 2014: A book published in 2014 

New York’s top dominatrix Nora Sutherlin is bored. When she stumbles upon sexy submissive Lance in Kingsley’s club, she can’t resist. On discovering that Nora is in danger, the ex-SEAL is appointed as Nora’s personal bodyguard and Kingsley stipulates no sex on the job, much to Nora’s disappointment. But however good Lance is in bed, he is loathe to hurt Nora the way that she needs and she soon discovers that he has secrets of his own …

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma (1815) (Penguin Classics)
Jane Austen
Grade: A+
Genre: fiction
Source: own
Fiction RBC 2014: A book with a one-word title

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich” is the belle of Highbury. Mistress of her father’s house, Hartfield, since her sister Isabella married, Miss Woodhouse is not in want of company. Nevertheless, when her governess and closest friend Miss Taylor becomes Mrs Weston and leaves Hartfield, Emma finds herself in need of a companion and project. The young Miss Harriet Smith becomes her new protégée, much to the despair of long-time family friend Mr Knightley who always professes to know best for Miss Woodhouse.

My Beautiful Enemy by Sherry Thomas

My Beautiful Enemy (2014) (Headline Eternal)
Sherry Thomas
Grade: A
Genre: historical romance
Sex scenes: mild
Source: bookbridgr
The Heart of Blade: (prequel) The Hidden Blade, (1) My Beautiful Enemy
Romance RBC 2014: A non-Regency historical

The beautiful and deadly Catherine Blade has arrived in London with a mission to complete. The illegitimate daughter of a Chinese courtesan and English adventurer who died before she was born, there had been a tub of water ready to drown her at birth if she were a girl. When it came down to it, neither her mother or her amah could go through with it and it was the latter who was responsible for her secret training in the martial arts. Her task in London is to retrieve a pair of jade tablets for Da-ren, the man who has been more like a father figure to Catherine than any man has ever been. What Catherine doesn’t expect is to bump straight into the man she loved and thought she left for dead eight years ago …

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl (2013) (Macmillan Children's Books)
Rainbow Rowell
Grade: A
Genre: young adult
Source: own

YA Reading Book Challenge 2014: A book with a break-up 

Identical twins Cath and Wren are off to college and to date, have been inseparable. The pair now possess very different ideas about how they want to approach this next chapter in their lives. Wren is looking to use her newfound freedom to meet boys, party and basically let loose. Cath is the shy twin and wants everything to stay the same; she’s more than content to sit in her room writing fanfiction and doing homework, eating cereal bars and ignoring her roommate Reagan and Reagan’s boyfriend Levi. 

The Saint by Tiffany Reisz

The Saint (2014) (Harlequin MIRA)
Tiffany Reisz
Grade: A
Genre: erotica
Sex scenes: hot / BDSM / not for the faint-of-heart
The Original Sinners: (prequel) Seven Day Loan, (The Red Years): (1) The Siren, (2) The Angel, (3) The Prince, (4) The Mistress, (The White Years): (5) The Saint

Romance Reading Book Challenge 2014: A book without a happy ever after 

Once upon a time, Nora Sutherlin was just Eleanor Schreiber, daughter of a wannabe-nun and crook with mob ties. At fifteen years old, all her mother wants is a daughter who loves God, goes to Church, respects her priest and even her mother a little. Instead, she gets Eleanor whose quick brain and fast-talking often gets her into trouble – as much trouble as the clever hands that know how to hotwire luxury cars before you can say five Hail Mary’s. It is these illegal activities that get Eleanor arrested. With the help of her priest, she escapes juvie by the skin of her teeth and instead lands community service under the supervision of Father Stearns – or to Eleanor, Søren.

Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James

Once Upon a Tower (2013) (Piatkus)
Eloisa James
Grade: A
Genre: historical romance / fairytale re-tellings
Sex scenes: a hot 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, (5) Once Upon a Tower
Romance Reading Challenge 2014: A book based on a fairytale

At her debut ball, Lady Edith Gilchrist became the debutante of the season, despite having a fever so high she had no recollection of any detail – let alone her future husband-to-be. A talent cellist, Edie could be a true star had she been born a male. Nevertheless, her father has indulged her talents, delaying her entry into society so that she can spend hours each day practising. Now, Edie has effectively been sold to the highest bidder and to her dismay, she can’t even remember what her fiancée looks like!

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.

The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts

The Perfect Hope (2013) (Piatkus)
Nora Roberts
Grade: B+
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: mild
Source: library

Inn Boonsboro: (1) The Next Always, (2) The Last Boyfriend, (3) The Perfect Hope

Hope Beaumont is the innkeeper of the new Inn at Boonsboro, having escaped the city-life that she had believed was perfect. Manager at a big city-hotel chain and in what she believed was a long-term, committed relationship with the son and heir of the company, Hope’s life crumbled when she discovered that Jonathan was actually engaged to someone else all along, and that the whole family had been in on the secret. Hope relocates to Boonsboro on the advice of Avery Montgomery, a friend from college, and falls right into small-town life.

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

The Fortune Hunter (2014) (Headline)
Daisy Goodwin
Grade: A
Genre: historical, fiction
Source: bookbridgr / NetGalley

Fiction RBC 2014: A book based on a true story

Charlotte Lennox, debuntante and amateur photographer is one of the Town’s biggest catches, known colloquially as the ‘Lennox heiress’. Her reckless mother and the original Lennox heiress died in a hunting accident when Charlotte was a child and her fortune is currently managed by her half-brother, Fred, until she marries with his approval. Despite being the most eligible girl on the market, Charlotte isn’t known for her striking looks or scintillating conversational skills; rather, Charlotte has a passion for photography and a mere mention of her hobby is usually enough to frighten off any potential suitors, much to Fred’s dismay.

Do or Die by Suzanne Brockmann

I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog ... Degree is over and I've landed myself my first job - let's see how well I do keeping the blogging up, now that there's little in my way ...

Do or Die (2014) (Ballantine Books)
Suzanne Brockmann
Grade: B
Genre: adventure / romantic suspense
Sex scenes: mild
Source: NetGalley
Reluctant Heroes: (1) Do or Die

Romance Reading Bingo Challenge 2014: The first book in a series 

Ian Dunn, former Navy SEAL and renowned jewel thief (or so he leads the world to believe) is notorious for his team’s ability to carry out high-risk jobs using less-than-official means. When two young children are kidnapped by their own father and held captive in a heavily guarded embassy as an act of revenge against their mother, Ian is deemed the only man for the job. Ian is currently serving time in prison as part of a long-con that has just been blown to pieces by the FBI’s insistence that he take this job and save the kids from danger. But for reasons that he won’t reveal, nothing is going to make Ian change his mind.

A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton

These past three-and-a-half weeks have been a crazy haze of essay writing, editing, reading and revision. I have pretty much lost all sense of dates and days of the week, but there remains a ticking countdown in my head checking off the days and hours until my degree is finally over. I'm handing in four essays totalling 15,000 words in four days, my first exam starts in five days and the last exam of my academic career is in twelve. As much as I can't wait for the freedom, I also wouldn't mind if another couple of weeks materialised somewhere so I can revise some more!

Anyway, that's the reason why the blog has been dead for a month. A Dark and Twisted Tide was one of my most anticipated books for 2014 and is published today (8 May) and so here's my review. Now, back to the edits and revision ...


A Dark and Twisted Tide (2014) (Bantam Press)
Sharon Bolton
Grade: A-
Genre: gothic thriller crime
Sex scenes: MORE sexual tension
Source: NetGalley
Lacey Flint: (1) Now You See Me, (1.5) If Snow Hadn't Fallen, (2) Dead Scared, (3) Like This, For Ever, (4) A Dark and Twisted Tide

Fiction Reading Bingo Challenge 2014: A book by a female author 

Crime keeps coming to find former detective Lacey Flint. After her last big case, Lacey took the difficult decision of going back into uniform and taking life easy – or so she’d hoped. She’s now part of the Thames Marine Unit, getting used to living on a houseboat and her new peaceful lifestyle, but murder has other ideas. Swimming in the Thames one morning, Lacey comes across a body laboriously wrapped and preserved in some sort of burial ritual that the police are unable to identify. Lacey can’t help but get involved and her former team are more than willing to have her back.