Review: Midnight Kiss by Robyn Carr, Victoria Dahl, Jean Brashear

Description:

Take a risk.

At the inaugural New Year’s Eve party at Jack’s Bar, two lonely revelers decide the best balm for their broken hearts might just be each other.

Find the perfect work-life balance.

When a flinty lawyer with a bad-boy addiction meets the quintessential nice guy, sparks fly that consume their expectations of life and love.

Get those finances in order.

Working over the holidays on a messy bank takeover is made worse for two federal specialists by an ill-advised kiss that will never happen again...right?

Review:
I requested this book from netgalley because I love Victoria Dahl. She is hilarious and it's never wrong to try some new to me authors. So I grabbed this chance and I yep it was a win. All three stories in this anthology are about this special moment when the new year starts with a big bang.

Midnight Confessions by Robyn Carr
That was my first glimpse into Ms Carr's writing and I have to admit I expected a bit more. We meet a rather depressed and pessimistic heroine. Sunny is nothing like her name. She suffers from a bad breakup- one where you are the only one in front of the altar. I know that is bad and it probably makes you see the world with different eyes but it didn't hep me like the heroine. She was just too negative for my taste. Drew is a medical resident who also had a bad break-up but he handles it way better than Sunny. The whole story is more about him "healing" her. He tells her how he sees life and how he went on after the end of his last relationship. I would have loved to actually read more about these two and how their love developed. This story had too much baggage for my taste. The writing was great but the smex was missing. Yes I can be greedy.

Midnight Surrender by Jean Brashear
I never read Ms Brashear either but I'm 100% sure I want to do exactly that. Her writing caught my attention from the start, her voice is wonderful and her characters so much fun. Our heroine Jordon is a man-eater- she lives a free and independent life. She's an attorney and stands on her own feet. When she wants something. especially a man, she grabs one and pushes him away when she has enough. I actually like her even though she was annoying from time to time. Our hero Will is an Irish hunk who searches for the perfect woman to care for him- including sewing, gardening and cooking. Anyone else looking like this O_o ? So yes he has some old fashioned ideas but believe me he makes up for it with being totally sexy. I really would take one of those men. I like how those two fought and made up. *wink* They are so different and it was really enjoyable to watch them find their way. Wonderful story that will leave you wanting more.

Midnight Assignment by Victoria Dahl
Finally at last the story I waited for. I was totally proud of myself for not just skipping the first 2 stories to start with this one. I didn't even read the blurb before I started this book so I was very surprised to find it set in a "financial" setting. Yep, at first I thought. Booooooring but it really wasn't. It more one of those naughty office stories- you know these two shouldn't get involved but you cheer them on like a maniac because you know you will love every second of it. And I loved everything. The character are as always funny and witty- not only the main couple. We find some wonderful side characters in this book. I also liked how Ms Dahl introduced her characters through the story- it accompanied the unfolding of the story and gave Midnight Assignment a nice touch. I loved how the story developed- I love this theme of two people being apart because of a misunderstanding. I loved how they figured it out. *wicked grin* As always Ms Dahl's sex-scenes are made of hawtness. I loved every second. Definitely my favorite in this anthology.

Midnight Kiss is a very entertaining anthology with a nice cast of characters that will leave you craving more. Highly recommended!

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Review: His at Night by Sherry Thomas

Description:

He is England's most foolish lordling. She is a very desperate young woman—and still not desperate enough to want him for a husband. But Fate has a way of upsetting the best-laid plans and Elissande finds herself married to a man whose vast idiocy makes her teeth hurt—from clenching them so hard!

But is Lord Vere really a hopeless cretin, or has Elissande accidentally married the one man who keeps his secrets as well as she does hers? And once Lord Vere gets over his shock of being shackled to a young lady who seems to be everything he doesn't want—if only he could stop desiring her madly—will he discover that she is the one who holds the key to his long-locked heart?

My Thoughts:

The first thing I should probably tell you is that I'm not a huge historical reader. I enjoy it from time to time but at heart I am a paranormal girl. That being said I really enjoyed this book. I had a few little ruffles with it but I think that most of those can be explained with me not reading enough novels in this genre.

What I liked:

1. The story flows wonderfully. You start reading and the next time you look up you've read 100+ pages without having noticed. Mrs. Thomas storytelling is addictive and never lost its appeal.

2. Her conversations are fun- they were time appropriate (in my non-expert eyes) but also amusing to no end. Especially Lord Vere's un-knowledge was hilarious. It must have been so much fun to write this part. He made stories up that were so crazy and stupid that they left me laughing on the bed.

3. I loved her side characters. The romance between Freddie and (name) was fascinating. I love these situations where both want each other but are too shy to do anything. I loved the way they interacted and that she wasn't afraid to tell him her opinion on everything. I like strong woman  with an mind and no hassle to stand up for what they want. Perhaps that is why I liked these 2 more than the main couple.

What I didn't like that much:
1. Lord Vere was contradicting. He blames Elissande for tricking him into he marriage and for "playing" most of her reaction to others but on the other hand he is even worse. He lies to everyone including his family. They all are worried about him and his "accidentally" caused stupidity. He was a bit too full of himself for my taste and everyone forgave him way too easily. He was cute from time to time but most of the time I just wanted to slap him silly. How dares he to judge Ellissande even after he knows what she went through. One second he was full of empathy and in the next he was picturing her as the worst lier of the world again. Also he's jumping in bed with her and then drops her like some piece of junk. I'm not appreciating that at all. And don't get me started on the first time they had sex. That was just so wrong. I know I'm ranting but that one really was a piece of work.

2. Perhaps I'm too modern but I don't think that woman of that time didn't know what an orgasm was. These woman had time alone with their body too and I can't believe that they didn't experimented with themselves. Okay I get that they probably weren't that informed about the male body and what to do with it but every woman should know her body at least a bit.

Okay ranting done. Beside this 2 points I really like this book. The story was compelling, the pace was perfect and the characters were mostly nice. It was a fast entertaining read I couldn't put down even if I was not so happy about some parts. I already plan to buy another of Mrs. Thomas books because she definitely knew how to entertain me.

To learn about Sherry Thomas and her books please visit her website here.

You can read other reviews @goodreads and buy the book @BookDepository

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My May Reads

May was a great month reading wise. I had a bit of stress but that's seems to get pretty normal for me. I read some really great books and I achieved some things besides that, too.
Here's what I read:

1. Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl

Like every book I read from Mrs. Dahl I laughed so hard in this one. Max is just wonderful and hilarious. Still pampering the review but I will get it done.

2. Vision in White (Bride Quartet, #1) by Nora Roberts

I was so curious about the Nora Roberts phenomena that I just had to buy one of her books. I loved it. It's a fast and entertaining read that made me crave more. So I bought the rest of the books in this series.

3. Bound to Please by Lilli Feisty

I bought this one after reading some reviews on other blogs and I enjoyed it. It's really hot and wicked. I didn't really connect with Ruby but I liked the book nonetheless.

4. No Longer Mine by Shiloh Walker (my review)

This book was a total tearjerker for me, in a good way. I so felt for the characters and the whole story just drew me in. I have to read more of Shiloh's books, they have the potential to become a new addiction of mine.

5. Pleasure and Purpose (Order of Solace. #1) by Megan Hart

No month without a Megan Hart book for me. This series is not contemporary like the rest I read from Megan Hart. I enjoyed this change but I have to say so far the contemps are my favorite. I loved that this book is actually three connected stories and again I noticed that I'm not much into the girl being the Dom. Does that make me a bad girl?

6. Blood Born by Linda Howard & Linda Jones (my review)

I started reading this book with thinking it would be PNR but it was more an urban fantasy. Again I had a problem with the much changing POV but all in all it was a nice book. The last 100pages really grabbed and I can't wait to read book 2 cuz it will be about Sorin. *swoon*

7. Unholy Ghosts (Downside, #1) by Stacia Kane (my review)

This book was just wow. I tried to ignore any snippets and info about this book before starting to read it. I wanted the whole impact and it totally blew me away. Stacia's style is unique: her characters are special and the world she created was something new. Much recommended read.
 

8. Midnight's Ghost (Star Runner, #1) by Sara Brookes (my review)

I love science fiction and in a mix with romance it makes me in to a puddle of awe. I enjoyed Sara'S first scifi opera and can't wait to get my hands on book 2 in this series.

9. Moon Sworn (Riley Jenson Guardian, #9) by Keri Arthur (my review)

This was one of the best ends in a series I have ever read. Enough closure for my taste and the HEA is wonderfully done. The book grabbed me from the start and I couldn't put it down. I so have to read the six books I'm still missing in the middle. Great book.

10. The Bloodgate Guardian by Joely Sue Burkhart

A book about Mayan history and archeologist? I'm so in for that. I devoured the pages and enjoyed every second of it. I plan to write the full review today so it will be up this week.

11. Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, #4) by Ilona Andrews

OMFG I completely adore this book. Can I marry it? Wonderful pace, so much fun, Currun smex and a gripping story. Nothing to not love. It went directly on my all time favorite pile and it's high on my re-read list, too.
You all have to read this series- it's made of awesome.

12. Crazy in Love by Ashley Ladd

This was a real short read and it confused me a bit. It's a mix of contemporary with paranormal elements and I had some problem with it. I will write the review today, too.

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