Leanne Tyler, It's Always Been You

Title:  It's Always Been You

Author:  Leanne Tyler

Rating:  Three Siren Stones

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Keywords:  Last Rose Of Summer Rosette, Sweet, Class of 85

Word Count:  13,900     

ISBN E-Book:  d6262

Price:  $2.50

Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press

Buy-Link:  http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=175_140&products_id=4586

Reviewer:  Ashleigh


Tagline: Coming back after over 20 years, can the hurt from the past be over looked when your one and only is standing in front of you?

Blurb/Summary:

Class of 85

Retired Staff Sergeant Seth Roberts returns to Summerville to begin the next chapter of his life. To do that, he needs to find out why his girlfriend married another man more than twenty years ago while he served in the Persian Gulf. Their high school reunion is the perfect place to confront Elyse Jordan.

Determined to be a strong role model for her daughters, Professor of Feminist Theory Elyse Jordan never talks about the loss of her only love twenty years ago. Caring for her mother during cancer treatment brings Elyse back to Summerville, the one place she avoided after Seth’s death. When an invitation to her twenty-fifth reunion arrives, she decides to go and reconnect with lost friends. She never imagines she’ll come face-to-face with Seth instead.

Can Seth and Elyse find the thread of love that bound them together or will past tragedies and misunderstandings keep them apart?

Review:

Reading the Class of ’85 series both for fun and review has been a joy to get to read, but something about this one just fell a little short for me.  The situation surrounding both Seth and Elyse is a unique one but not completing uncommon. I was shocked to see that if the feelings they had all those years ago, then how they allowed themselves to be kept apart was odd.  But the coming together at the reunion left me wanting more of something, possibly drama, over the lost time together.  The characters of both Elyse and Seth didn’t readily come to life for me, but took some imagining to really see what the author was wanting them to look like, which in turn I think made the story a little harder to enjoy.

Thinking of the other books in this series, I think if this story would have had more build up to the climax it would have been a much more enjoyable read.  This one will not deter me from finding others in this series to read, but I might hesitate to read other works from Leanne Tyler in the future.  I just thought this book could have had a lot more happening with the potential that it started out with.

Lora Leigh, The One

Title:  The One

Author:  Lora Leigh

Rating:  Four And A Half Siren Stones

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Keywords:  Texan

Length:  Novella     

ISBN E-Book:  978-1419934414

Price:  $4.45

Publisher:  Ellora’s Cave

Buy-Link:  http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9332-the-one.aspx

Reviewer:  Ashleigh


Tagline: Loving hard is something Brenna has done towards Jase since the beginning, but can he open his heart to her like she has since the beginning?

Blurb/Summary:

Brenna’s love for Jase has grown from a crush to a soul-searing need, a painful hunger…and an unrequited ache, because the savagely sexy Texan doesn’t feel the same. A bequest and stipulation in his father’s will have hardened Jase, it seems. Now she must endure three months of living under his roof. Three torturous, tension-filled months and Brenna will have fulfilled the stipulation; will be free to attempt to regain the heart lost to Jase so long ago.

Since the age of eighteen, Jase has protected Brenna—from himself, as much as anyone else. Living with her proves too rousing even for his iron will. He’ll claim what’s his, take Brenna in ways he’d previously only dreamed, sink so deeply inside her luscious body he’ll never find his way out. And be damned if he’ll let her go.

A scorching Texas summer can’t compete with blazing lust as Brenna gives in, gives over, gives all that she is to Jase, to the only man she’s every loved…to the one.

Review:

Being a long-time fan of Lora Leigh’s work it was a real treat to get to review the story of Brenna and Jace.  The emotional turmoil that surrounds Brenna tugged at my heart strings and even brought a few tears to my eyes as the book went along.  While the tears were flowing for the broken heart she harbored, somehow she kept letting Jace back in, even though more pain was sure to come her way. There were points when I was almost angry at her way of bending to his will too much, but as the story went along everything made sense and the pain in the beginning was worth the pleasure in the end.  The characters of both Jace and Brenna literally came to life in my mind as the story began, being able to see the story unfold in my mind, just made this story that much better.

Having read several other works by Lora Leigh, the HEA in this story was along the same caliber as her other works and left me with a sense of completion that all the loose ends had been tied up.  The romance genre is one where I can tell Ms. Leigh is quite comfortable, and while I have read several of her more erotic works it’s her contemporary romances that really keep me drawn in.  Getting an opportunity to read her works for reviewing has been a pleasure and would not disappoint anyone who picked up this great read.

Mari Carr, Three Reasons Why

Title:  Three Reasons Why

Author:  Mari Carr

Rating:  Four And A Half Siren Stones

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Keywords:  Handyman 

Length:  Short Novel     

ISBN E-Book:  978-1419933752

Price:  $5.20

Publisher:  Ellora’s Cave

Buy-Link:  http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9310-three-reasons-why.aspx

Reviewer:  Ashleigh


Tagline: When your only reasons for staying apart get blown to pieces, just what are you supposed to do to protect your heart from the man who has had it all along?

Blurb/Summary:

Three Reasons Why is a sequel to Kiss Me, Kate.

Wes wants Jill Harper in every possible way a man can want a woman. But she’s resisting. Hard. When he learns she needs a handyman for her diner, he decides fate is smiling upon him—until Jill offers three reasons why they can’t be together. Always up for a challenge, Wes decides to prove her ridiculous reasons unsound, one by one.

Jill knows her reasons are total bull, but she’s sticking by them, come hell or high water. Unfortunately, Wes Robson is extremely persuasive. Especially in bed. If the sex gets any hotter they’ll likely burn down the town. Before long, Jill’s reasons begin falling away as fast as her clothing whenever Wes is around.

But Jill knows exactly what Wes wants for his future, and she’s just prolonging the inevitable heartbreak. The real reason she can’t give herself to Wes, can’t allow herself to love him, can only lead to pain—the kind from which neither may ever recover.

Review:

The story of Jill and Wes is a continuation from Kiss Me, Kate with guest appearances of Both Rick and Kate, and with the first story Mari Carr knocked this one out of the park.  The main characters, Wes and Jill, were so well written that they came alive on the page which really made reading this story such a pleasure to read.  Having read several other works by Ms. Carr in the past I hoped that this story lived up to the high standards that I had gained from her previous books, and she has once again made another hit.

The emotions in this book were so raw that as a reader, I truly was taken on the same roller coaster ride that Jill was experiencing every time she got close to Wes. Mari really made these characters so 3-D that everything they did came to life from the pages for me.  While this book sits comfortably in the contemporary romance genre, it could easy pass into the suspense or slight erotica as well.

The cover art was really something that drew me to this book, not only because of the sexy cover models, but that it really didn’t give too much of the story away and made me want to know more about the characters after reading the blurb on the back.  This book would make a great addition to anyone’s reading collection and I can’t wait to see what else it is that she comes up with in the future.

Kathryn R. Blake, Mortal Illusions

Title:  Mortal Illusions

Author:  Kathryn R. Blake

Rating:  Four Siren Stones

Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Keywords:  Vampire

Word Count:  198,234     

ISBN E-Book:  Available through Publisher and Kindle

Price:  $1.99

ISBN for Print:  978-1466493537

Price:  $14.99

Publisher:  New Concepts Publishing

Buy-Link:  http://newconceptspublishing.com/kathryn-r.-blake/mortal-illusions/

Reviewer:  Rhonda J Callum-King

Blurb/Summary:

Desperate to keep her dying brother alive, Claire Daniels sets out to charm a powerful vampire into helping her save him. But winning Germaine St. Justine’s support will take more than Claire’s blood. It will cost her heart and soul.

 Review:

This is the story of Claire and Germaine.  Germaine is a vampire from the age of the French Revolution who is still somewhat damaged by occurrences from the past.  Germaine was tortured during the revolution while his family was murdered and eventually, he was turned by his inquisitor.  This has left a mark on him and he has decided never to turn anyone.  Claire is the daughter of the last woman that Germaine loved and let grow old.  Claire's mother has just passed from cancer leaving the request that the two of them pair up.  This is the opening to Mortal Illusions. 

The book itself was an engaging easy read.  The story enjoyable and in parts even sad to the point of tears.  Watching Claire and Germaine work out their issues with each other and death at a few points became nearly painful.  Claire loses her mother and her brother, while Germaine relives losing his whole family, Claire's mother and eventually Claire.  However, personally I found Germaine to be far too autocratic.  He gives Claire orders constantly and expects absolute obedience without giving her any explanations as to why.  Of course then Claire disobeys and Germaine shuts her off for days to weeks at a time in a huff. 

Personally, I found this to be abusive behaviour and if I were Claire, would have run off in a heartbeat with his second in command Marcus.  Even Nick, while flighty, would have been more fun than Germaine.  So, while this was a good story, Germaine is not the vampire for me.  I look forward to reading the story of the Roman Marcus.  His quiet nobility struck me far more than Germaine's autocratic petulance.