Are we there yet? by David Levithan

Are we there yet? (2005) (HarperCollins)
David Levithan
Grade: B--
Genre: young adult
Source: own

Young adult RBC 2014: A book set in the summer 

Danny Silver isn’t used to sharing anything with his younger brother Elijah. Seven years older, there was a time when they were inseparable with their role-playing games and brotherly camaraderie, but on embarking into full teenager-hood, Danny grew too old for the games they used to play and the brothers have drifted apart ever since.

Elijah is now 17 and it’s time to start thinking about college applications. Danny is 24 and in advertising at Gladner, Gladner, Smith & Jones. Danny thinks that Elijah is too nice, while Elijah knows that Danny can’t stand his laidback nature. When the pair are tricked into going to Italy together by their parents, Danny and Elijah are forced to re-evaluate their relationship as they know it in the breathtaking surrounds of Venice, Florence and Rome. When a girl is added to the equation, love teaches both Danny and Elijah all they need to know about each other, and themselves.

Captivated by Megan Hart & Tiffany Reisz

Captivated (2014) (short story collection) (Harlequin)
Featuring 'Letting Go' and 'Seize the Night'
Megan Hart & Tiffany Reisz
Grade: B- (average)
Genre: erotica / contemporary romance
Sex scenes: hot
Source: NetGalley

Romance RBC 2014: A book with a 'marriage of convenience'

In Letting Go, Colleen visits The Fallen Angel bar every Thursday night, ordering a whiskey but leaving it untouched. Bartender Jesse is enchanted with the beautiful but troubled Colleen and determined to make something of their connection. Colleen is wary: her ex-husband always accused her of being frigid and cold and she hasn’t yet got over their divorce. It isn’t until a snow storm forces them to spend time in each other’s company that Colleen rethinks her perspective on a new relationship and is confronted with her newfound desire for kinkiness in the bedroom …

In Seize the Night, Remi Montgomery knows that something is shifty is up with two of the biggest Thoroughbred racing farms in Kentucky, Arden farms and Capital Hills. She would do something to confront the problem, but Arden farm belongs to her parents, and Capital Hills, belonging to the Brites family, is their greatest enemy. To top it off, she and Julien, the Brites’ only son were the source of the original rivalry. Five years ago, a night of unbridled passion turned the two families against each other and it’s now up to Remi and Julien to get to the bottom of it …

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

War Horse (1982) (Egmont)
Michael Morpurgo
Grade: A-
Genre: children's
Source: own

Fiction RBC 2014: A best-selling book 

When a young colt is sold at an auction, he doesn’t expect to find a friend and loyal master in Albert, a boy at a Devonshire farm who names his new love, Joey. A beautiful red-bay foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, Joey is forced to become a farm horse by Albert’s father in order to ‘earn his keep.’ When the war breaks out, Joey is sold again to a Captain Nicholls to be used as a war horse, travelling over to France and facing the horrors of the First World War. Finding a friend in another thoroughbred horse, Topthorn, he and Joey lead a cavalry charge towards enemy lines, being captured by the Germans in the process. War Horse tells the story of Joey’s journey across Europe and Albert’s mission to be reunited with the horse he loves.

Fast Track by Julie Garwood

Fast Track (2014) (Penguin Group Dutton)
Julie Garwood
Grade: B-
Genre: romantic suspense
Sex scenes: mild
Source: NetGalley
Buchanan/FBI: ... (12) Fast Track

Romance RBC 2014: A book with a 'best friend-little sister' relationship 

Raised solely by her father after her mother died in a car crash, Cordelia Kane isn’t ashamed to call herself a daddy’s girl. When he dies of a sudden heart attack, Cordelia is crushed – even more so when she discovers that her mother is still alive and well, having wanted nothing to do with her daughter’s life. Insanely curious about this woman that rejected her, Cordelia tracks her down to Sydney in order to find out more.

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.