Kiss Me Darkly - Cecilia Gray ~Review in English~

   

Kiss Me Darkly by Cecilia Gray

Blurb: 

Meet Dinah Belle—the Blasé Belle—who never gets emotional because there is no problem—including love—that she cannot solve with her superior intellect. The irrational emotion of love has destroyed her family, but it must have a cure, and she has the perfect test case by which to discover it.
Meet Graham Abernathy—the popular duke's son—a gentleman who goes out of his way to please others and be well liked. Not that it's done him any good, since the woman he loves has thrown him over for someone else. Heartbroken, he attracts the interest of one Dinah Belle, who has her sights set on him—for research, of all things.
Dinah has no intention of failing. He has no intention of being cured.


This book is ...a bit different. For a rather long time I wasn't really sure whether I liked it or not because I felt that I was missing a lot due to the style in which it is written.
While Dinah Belle, when she meets Graham Abernathy, sees an opportunity for a thorough research on the subject of love and the chance to cure this destructive emotion, Graham Abernathy is not very willing to be cured of his heartbreak. Despite that he agrees to go along with her scheme.
The two meet occasionally over the course of some years and share quite a number of letters concerning Dinah's latest theories on how to defeat this fatal malady called love. Useless to say that she is not really successful in curing Graham but, well, something changes for sure...

The story and the style are rather unusual which makes the book an interesting reading experience and I was really astonished how well the characters are developed despite the fact that the reader jumps from event to event and has to fill in many things for himself. Even though the letters links the occasions when Dinah and Graham meet somewhat there are still big gaps and that's where I felt I was missing something. The book being a romance it made sense that Dinah and Graham fell in love over the course of the years but you couldn't really feel it.
On the whole I couldn't connect well with the characters and felt a bit detached.
Nevertheless I enjoyed reading the book.

★★★★

Must Love Kilts (Must Love Time Travel #3) by Angela Quarles ~Review in English~

  Must Love Kilts (Must Love Time Travel, #3) by Angela Quarles

 Blurb:

The Jacobite Rebellion--not the best time to get drunk, hook up with a guy, and lose your sister.
A drunken bet...
When computer game designer Traci Campbell gets too close and personal with a bottle of Glenfiddich while vacationing in Scotland, she whisks her kilt-obsessed sister back to 1689 to prove hot guys in kilts are a myth. Hello, hundred bucks! But all bets are off when she meets Iain, the charming playboy in a to-die-for kilt.
Wrong place, wrong time, wrong name...
Iain MacCowan regularly falls in love at the drop of his kilt. The mysterious red-haired lass with the odd accent is no different. But when his new love is discovered to be a Campbell, the most distrusted name in the Highlands, his dalliance endangers his clan's rebellion against King William.
It’s all hijinks in the Highlands until your sister disappears...
Traci thinks men are only good for one thing--thank you, Iain!--but when she awakens once again in Ye Olde Scotland and her sister is gone, she must depend on the last person she wants to spend more time with. He wants to win a heart, she wants to keep hers, but can these two realize they're meant for each other before the Jacobite rebellion pulls them apart?


This book was a really nice variation of the time travel motif.

Our less than glorious hero and heroine don't find each other, they kind of stumble upon each other when Traci and her sister Fiona travel back to 1689. Getting to know each other worked pretty quick for Traci and Ian at least... well.. you know.
Unfortunately Ian realizes too late that Traci is a Campbell. A Campbell - obviously at this time right before the first Jacobite uprising for those who didn't support King William, the name "Campbell", name of the most ferocious supporters of the protestant King William, was nothing that they wanted to hear and they definitely didn't want to host one of them....or two.

The two-part is the other problem. Not only does Traci have to jump  back unexpectedly to today's Scotland after a night of far too much whisky and a (very nice) encounter with one of those hot guys in kilts but when she arrives there she realizes that her sister is missing. Or rather - she left her behind in 1689. Of course she travels back again but....no Fiona. Setting out to find her is not really easy for someone whose experience with nature and the rough life is based completely on RPGs. Finding Ian is the first step but by far not the last....

I loved the chemistry of the hero and the heroine and I loved how they cared for each other and helped the other realize their own value. Both of them are insecure and hide behind their mask of carelessness all the time to prevent themselves from getting hurt. Finally, slowly, they start to see their own worth and their destiny.
It's up to you now to find out where this destiny will lead them - or rather "when"!
And I'm looking forward to find out what exactly happend between Fiona and Duncan! The end left me a bit curious...just a little bit, sure, but...well...I hope that the next book will be out soon!

 ★★★★

Copping It Sweet - Anna Clifton

 Copping It Sweet by Anna Clifton

Blurb:

Sara Sullivan has a landlord who wants to evict her, a 1960s Beetle that rarely starts, and a looming exam she’s all set to fail. But none of that compares to the return home of Detective Sergeant Cooper Halligan, her best friend’s brother and the single biggest threat to the secret she’s guarded for years…
Cooper Halligan is happy to be home. But he’s not happy to discover that Sara Sullivan is a permanent fixture within his family, especially when he’s the only one who knows about the sinister marriage lying hidden in her past.
Sara’s crime-boss husband is the prime suspect in the murder of an innocent street kid, and now Cooper’s prepared to do anything to find out what Sara knows.


How would you react if you were a cop and coming home after having spend some years abroad you find the wife of a crime-boss right in the middle of your family, being best friends with everyone of them? Even worse -  the wife of a crime-boss whom you are still trying to prove guilty of the murder of an innocent kid? - Well, Cooper doesn't take it well either but when circumstances force Sara and Coop to spend with each other he realizes that there are more (and nicer) reasons to spend time with her apart from the investigation into her husband's crimes...

I really liked the story. It was well written and captivated me from the first page on. Once started, I didn't put the book down.
The story, was thrilling and the complex and well developed characters were easy to like and sympathize with. I loved to see how both of our main characters start to trust each other and to realize how much more they mean to each other. The whole of it made up a fascinating story that I really enjoyed!

★★★★★

 

 

A License to Wed: Rebellious Brides - Diana Quincy

  A License to Wed: Rebellious Brides by Diana Quincy

Blurb: 

Lady Elinor Dunsmore made the mistake of falling for her older brother's best friend, who vanished after a night of unbridled passion. Six years and a lifetime later, their eyes meet across a Paris salon. Her friends and family believe she's dead, but Elle is very much alive. She's now associated with a ruthless general, who wants her to seduce the man who broke her heart in order to learn his deepest secrets. Is Will a mild-mannered scholar—or the notorious agent they call The Razor?

The bastard son of an earl and an actress, Will Naismith always knew he was an unsuitable match for Elle Dunsmore, no matter how powerfully he ached for her. And yet he almost allowed his desires to spoil her glittering future. After the agony caused by Elle's supposed death, Will has devoted himself to the Crown, but his entire life has been leading up to this unexpected reunion. As much as he still wants her, though, he must not succumb to lust once again. For his mission is delicate—and Elle is delectably dangerous.
 

First I fell in love with the description of the book, then, after a couple of pages, I realized that this is the sequel to Spy Fall which I really really loved and - this book is as good as Spy Fall and I simply love it!
Alright alright, lots of love for one, okay, make that two books, but really they are amazing! Strong and complex characters and imagine - they don't just presume and pout but they try to talk to each other and they acknowledge when they have been wrong and they apologize! They are not infallible, they are authentic, they make mistakes, they make the wrong decisions, they hurt each other but they use ther heart and their brain to figure things out and  - I must repeat it: They talk. To each other. About their problems. Ain't that something? Right!

Apart from that this is a fast-paced and well plotted story that is set a bit after the events that took place in Spy Fall. Both of them are standalones but I would read Spy Fall first because some things are mentioned in License to wed that are important parts of the story in Spy Fall.

We met Will, the hero of our book in Spy Fall where he was introduced as a friend of Cosmo's and, well, as a friend of Cosmo's. License to wed sees him in Paris where he discovers that Elinor, Cosmo's sister and his former lover is still alive and not dead as they had all been led to believe. Due to the aftermath of the French Revolution, Elinor and Will seem to be on different sides as Elinor is forced by a member of the French intelligence network to find out if Will, nice, sweet, well-mannered scholar Will, a simple numimatist, is the famous agent "The Razor".
Will they be able to overcome not only the differences posed by their current circumstances or will they be able to build the life they were meant to have if fate - and some less than benevolent friends - hadn't interfered?

I guess, I mentioned it but - I really loved this book! Both books are well written, gripping and imaginative - this author just made it on my very short auto-read/auto-buy list!

★★★★★

 

 

A Diamond on the Rough - Andrea Pickens

A Diamond in the Rough by Andrea Pickens 

 Blurb:

Adrian, Viscount Marquand, is not a typical English lord. Spurning the gaming halls and brothels, he secretly designs the most beautiful gardens in England. Then his ne'er-do-well father bets the ancestral manor on the outcome of a golf match, and it's up to Adrian to save his beloved home. But first he must travel to Scotland to learn the game.

Miss Derrien Edwards is not a typical Scottish lass. Her bouncy blond curls tucked under a woolen cap, she satisfies her love of the links by passing as a young male caddie named "Derry".

When Adrian arrives at St. Andrews links, he's paired with "Derry". While learning to play, Adrian struggles to ignore his strange attraction to the impudent caddie, and Derrien finds herself caught in her own trap. Secrets swirl as the day of reckoning arrives—and neither can afford to lose the game.


A paragon of perfection...

....may or may not be what Adrian Linsley, Lord Marquand needs as his future wife but it certainly is what he is looking for and getting betrothed to. It takes a wager, hard training on the golf links and a certain caddie to find that life might be about more than just being content and proper. And sometimes the true diamonds might be found in strange places perhaps even on the links...

When Lord Marquand's father, the Earl of Chittenden risks all the family's estates on a wager, it is up to Adrian to save the day - and the estates. To win the wager, he must win a round of golf at St. Andrews. Unfortunately he has never before played golf. When his friends set him up with a trainer and the best caddie available to get him in shape for the event, he doesn't know that his world will change for good.
When Derrien Edwards is asked to act as caddie for Lord Marquand, she doesn't know either that the time with him will change her life.
Is there a chance for a girl like Derry and a Lord whose family holds one the oldest and most respected titles in the land?

I really loved Derry and Adrian and I loved to see how they both fought (a lot) and got to know each other, got to respect each other and finally, very slowly fell in love. They are both amazing, multilayered characters with a wonderful story that kept me glued at my ereader. It's not just the hero and the heroine though but the other characters are also well developed and very authentic. I loved to see Honoria, Adrian's fiancée, blossom and become a beautiful and charming woman in love and I was really upset when I read about Derry's mother and her story.

A wonderful and well written story with loveable and interesting characters - I really loved this book and can definitely recommend it!

*I received a copy of this book from eBook Discovery in exchange for my honest review.*

★★★★★

Laird of the Highlands (International Billionaires #9) - Caro LaFever

 Laird of the Highlands by Caro LaFever

 Blurb:

A virgin geek. A seductive thief. A haunted castle they both demand to own.
Lorne Ross never loved his family’s castle and lands, but he can’t abide the thought of a scheming gold-digger inheriting. His father might have been fooled, but he won’t be. His aim? To not only seize back what’s his, but punish the woman who stole from him.

Ceri Olwen loves everything to do with Castle Ross. She loves the ancient castle, the Caledonia Forest that surrounds it, and more than anything, she loves the fact that she’s found her place. A place where she can make her dreams come true.

So when a fierce Highlander marches into her life, intent on grabbing everything she loves, Ceri battles with all of her weapons for the win. How could she know that beneath her enemy’s dangerous facade lies a shy, gentle man? A man who quickly finds a way to break down her formidable armor and expose her heart. A heart she had no intention of offering.  

On the one hand I loved this story about two people who start out as enemies only to find that the other one might just be the one person to help them heal and to find love. On the other hand I thought very often that some things were a bit exaggerated or that even though he is a bit different, Lorne can't be that ignorant and that careless concerning the castle and its history.
A satellite dish on a castle tower, for example? Really? Invading a castle and ignoring a will and someone else's ownership? Even for a billionaire this is rather a bit too much, I think and there's more of that.

But well, I really like Ceri and I also like Lorne. Ceri Llewellyn has been hurt in the past and she has to fight very hard to overcome these feelings and her memories. Lorne Ross is different. He has a hard time to connect with people and to understand them. Feelings and emotions are hard to read for him and he doesn't know how to deal with them. His world is code. Coding is his life and his career -  a successful career.
When he learns that his father has willed the family estate and the castle to some stranger, he returns to the castle to protect and regain what he sees as his - even though he never really felt like he belonged there. He just marches in and takes the castle over like it belonged to him instead of Ceri. Ceri tries to fight him but it is hard to fight against the financial power of a billionaire.
While still trying to fight each other, Ceri and Lorne start to fall in love - right until the moment when everythings falls apart. Will they find their way to each other again and be able to leave their past behind?

The style fitted Lorne and his problems because I never fully connected with the characters. I felt for them, I liked them but I never got really close to them. Nevertheless it is a nice story and I enjoyed reading it despite the points that I mentioned.

★★★

 

The Earl's Betrothal - Karen Tuft

 The Earl's Betrothal by Karen Tuft

Blurb:

Out of the war and into another, Captain Lord Anthony Hargreaves finds the politics of romance to be as uninviting a battle as the one that nearly cost him his life in Badajoz, Spain.
Wounded both mentally and physically from the Peninsular War in 1812, Anthony returns home to find that his older brother has died, placing Anthony next in line to inherit the estate. But he’s not ready for such responsibilities. And when Anthony’s dying father pleads with him to marry and produce an heir to preserve the family title, it nearly sends Anthony over the edge; nevertheless he dutifully faces a long line of hopeful young ladies who await him. No one grabs his attention, though, like Amelia Clarke, his mother’s stunning companion, who is off-limits for the earl. But when Anthony unwittingly puts Amelia in a compromising situation, he dedicates himself to protecting her reputation.

But the horrors Anthony faced while away from home have left him feeling broken and tormented. And Anthony finds himself drawn to Miss Clarke, the only one who can chase away his demons, but he must overcome the hostility of a society driven by class, a jealous duke bent on revenge, and himself—for could Amelia ever really love a haunted man?


I loved this book! I loved to see how two amazing characters slowly fall for each other while both trying to protect the other from making the wrong decision, both caring enough to comsider the other's needs first....

But, well, that's not the only part that I loved. The book was amazingly well written and had complex, multi-layered characters that got me from the first "meeting". It's not just the hero and the heroine but each and everyone of the characters is authentic and portrayed in a way that let's them come to life. I really enjoyed meeting Lord Anthony's former personal servant/best friend Lucas Jennings for example and even though Lord Anthony's father made me furious more than once with his ignorance and ...well.... he was a great character and in the end I started to like him as well. His mother is sweet and caring and ...oh, there are so many people that I grew to love when I read the book!

The story itself was interesting, well plotted and had some twists and turns that kept me on my toes. Not a book to read in public, actually, if you don't want people to look at you strangely when you wring your hands or gasp in shock or whatever.

When Lord Anthony comes back from the Peninsula, he is suffering badly and least of his worries are the remnants of the bullet wound that almost took his life at Badajoz. His soul is wounded even worse and he is suffering from PTSD. Lucas cares for him, trying to protect him and trying to prevent others from learning about Anthony's problems but it is Amelia, his mother's compagnon Miss Clarke, who makes him feel better and to whom he opens himself. Of course, despite his father's insistence that he should marry posthaste, Miss Clarke could never become his wife, could she? And how could anyone foresee to what lengths some people would go to exact revenge for some obscure offense?

Amazing characters, great writing and a wonderful and powerful story that I've already reread more than once - I can defintely recommend this book!

★★★★★