Victoria’s Corner – Lasting Impressions

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The post today is inspired by a text I got from a woman I’ve been friends with since we were 8 years old (28 years or so).

Out of the blue, she texts me, “Do you remember a character by the name of Darian who was a gorgeous blonde vampire? I think it was a series of three books. She kept pursuing a moping vampire through the years.”

Given how many books there are about moping vampires, the chances of me remembering it seemed remote. But something about how she put it made me think of the name “David”. So I did a quick google search, and as I searched, the name “David Morrissey” rang a very strong bell. It took about 15 minutes of googling different combinations (I don’t watch the Walking Dead, but apparently there’s a character named David Morrissey on it) of words that included vampires, 1990s and David. She thought maybe Obsession might be the title.

And I FOUND the books. Hehe. It was the David de Morrissey series by Lori Herter. The first book is Obsession. (I didn’t google the title because I figured there were dozens of books called Obsession) and didn’t expect to find anything that way. As soon as I found the books on Goodreads, I had a visceral memory of loving the covers. Here they are:

ObsessionConfession

PossessionEternity

 

 

 

 

 

It was the cover for Possession that gripped me most back in the day. And I’ll be honest, I haven’t read this series since probably the mid 1990′s, but I still remember them, and I certainly still absolutely love and react to the cover of Possession.

So, here’s the question/topic for discussion today: Do you have any book covers that spark certain reactions, even long-lasting memories?

ARC Review: Who Wants to Marry A Cowboy?

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Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy?

Author: Abigail Sharpe
Publisher: Hachette Book Group/Grand Central Publishing – Forever
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Description:

CowboySet in Wyoming, WHO WANTS TO MARRY A COWBOY? tells the story of Riley Pommer, a forest ranger who moves back to his family’s pay-to-play-cowboy ranch to care for his siblings after their father’s death. He’s been burned by women in his life, and is content to be without any entanglements, but his siblings have other ideas.  They decide to turn the ranch into a singles retreat, and volunteer him to be the market-research guinea pig for the eight women they invite for a trial run.

South Carolina florist, Ainsley Fairfax, participates in the singles rodeo as a way of escaping her overbearing mother. At the ranch, she’s free from trying to please everyone around her and is more interested in the ranch’s greenhouse than any smelly cowboy so desperate for a woman that he needs a singles retreat to find himself a girlfriend.

Ainsley’s misconceptions are shattered when she meets Riley and realizes he isn’t smelly or desperate. He’s also not happy about the bachelorettes invading his home. Neither Ainsley nor Riley expects the attraction that develops between them. In the face of sabotage attempts by the other would-be wives and family pressures, Ainsley has to stand up for herself and Riley needs to let go of old hurts and open his heart before they can find happiness together.

My Thoughts:

Overall, I definitely liked this book. This is Ms. Sharpe’s debut novel and given the excerpt at the end from her upcoming sophomore effort, Who Wants to Marry a Doctor?, along with the general likability of the hero of that upcoming book, I believe she’s one to watch in the future.

That said, there were definitely both good and bad with this book. Riley and Ainsley are both likable in general, but I did get tired of the constant lack of faith on either of their parts as to the other. Yes, they both had issues (who doesn’t?), but I’m sorry, the non-stop, Oh, I’ll assume the worst because my mother was a <censored> and left me when I was a kid, so all women are like that, got old very quickly.

There were a lot of great flashes of humor throughout, and Ainsley definitely showed some growth over the course of the book. I’m not entirely sure Riley did much growing up, but everyone else certainly did and at least he started letting go some of his issues toward the end.

There was a lovely secondary romance between Ainsley’s sister and Ainsley’s long-time-stubborn-beau. I was happy to see how that worked out, and I found both of them nice to spend time with. This was definitely a story with two distinct, interwoven, romances. One wouldn’t really stand up very well without the other. I did, however, feel like Edward and Ainsley both badly needed to grow a pair (or spine, in Ainsley’s case) and deal with the witch Sophia.

Meagan, Ainsley’s roommate from the “bachelorette” set-up definitely tickled my funny bone and I loved how shy and quiet she was in her own romance (yes, there was even a third-layer of romance in the air). Say whatever else you might about this book, Ms. Sharpe excels at handling multiple plots and multiple layers of emotion. Oh, and I have to say, her relatively low level of actual sex/heat was a welcome relief in a genre which seems to be in constant contest with itself to see who can write the most erotic, sex-filled books quickest.

I’m definitely looking forward to her next entry in the series, and hopefully neither one of them will be lacking a spine.

Thank you, Ms. Sharpe, for giving me a lovely time set on a ranch and a new appreciation of flowers and the florists who grow them.

Book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

–Review by Victoria

Heat Rating 3

ARC Review: Lady Vivian Defies a Duke

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Lady Vivian Defies a Duke (Beau Monde Bachelor)

Author: Samantha Grace
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Description:

VivianLady Vivian Worth knows perfectly well how to behave like a lady. But observing proper manners when no one is around to impress is just plain silly. When Luke Forest, the newly named Duke of Foxhaven, arrives early to visit his bride-to-be, he catches Vivian acting most unladylike—in her chemise. Though amused by her unconventional ways, Luke hadn’t planned on marrying such a sprightly and opinionated lady. He’ll just have to find her another husband. But can he stand to see the vivacious woman in the arms of someone else?

My Thoughts:

I have to say I found Vivian to be an absolute delight. She was definitely socially inept (I kept thinking maybe she had some light case of autism – rather like Sheldon from Big Bang…a bit oblivious to the social niceties in many ways, she says what she thinks without a filter), which made for a refreshing change from the society misses obsessed with not putting one foot (or hair) out of place metaphorically. She had her secrets of course and her earlier humiliation is a horrid circumstance for her. This led to a very believable reason on her part of trying to avoid getting married to the duke when he came for her. Through it all, she was clearly devoted to her family, even as she fell unwillingly for Luke, even to the point that she was terrified of tainting Luke’s family with her scandal.

Luke was fantastic. He didn’t want to go through with the marriage his father had set up for him, but when he went to try to weasel out of it, he found himself entranced when he finds Vivian skinny-dipping in a pond. Well, she wasn’t totally naked, as I recall, but pretty darned close, especially for the time period. He instead decides to help her find a husband, but then, of course as it’s a romance novel, he begins to realize he can’t stomach the idea of her marrying anyone else (even though initially he still doesn’t want to marry her himself).

Vivian’s earlier secret comes to light and I thought it was very well handled. I found it admirable how Ms. Grace handled the issue when it came to the secret and how Luke’s family dealt with it (both before the engagement, as it turned out, and afterward).

I thoroughly enjoyed this entry in Ms. Grace’s booklist, and will eagerly continue to read her novels. She isn’t a “must buy” for me yet (very VERY few authors ever achieve that), but she’s edging nearer. This book is a 4 (closer to a 4.5, and I really wish I had a gif for that) out of five for me.

This book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

–Review by Victoria

heat Rating 4

Victoria’s Corner – Jobs

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Oh, don’t worry. This isn’t about the current economic conditions of the world (or at least the USA). C’mon, you know I wouldn’t do something like that, esp. since I wanna leave politics by the wayside for you lovely people.

No, the topic this week is about employment in novels, or more specifically, what sort of jobs do you find the most believable in novels? For the sake of this post, I’m only talking novels set in the modern (whether an Urban Fantasy/Paranormal version of Earth or just plain, contemporary Earth) world.

Now, as I’ve mentioned, I’m a Harlequin Presents girl deep down, and those books pretty universally either have the man be a royal of some sort, or a powerful, rich entrepreneur (though the industry can vary occasionally). Heroines are usually secretaries or have some lower-echelon employment (waitressing, musician, etc.) that they could give up on a whim if/when they fall in love (which they almost universally seem to). That’s HP’s schtick (alpha/rich hero, young/innocentish heroine) and it works for them.

I like to shake things up though with employment. I’d love to find more books where it’s the woman who’s the rich one, though a wealthy man in and of himself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I like when they’re both independent and successful in their own arenas. For example, and I’ll be up front here that I’m touting a friend’s book, in Tory Michaels’ Prophecy of Blood, both the heroine and hero are rich (both are vampires). He’s an internationally-acclaimed jewelry designer with his own company, and she secretly owns a multi-national conglomerate (though she doesn’t personally run it, she put the pieces together over several decades). They’re both wealthy (though her wealth leaves his in the dust), but they find their own balance that doesn’t revolve around one or the other’s lifestyle but rather blends the two together.

In Kim Harrison’s The Hallows series, the heroine is a Runner – she does supernatural investigations and the like, along with her pixie and living vampire partners. The potential love interests have included a living-vampire pizza-parlor manager (sigh, I still miss Kisten), a ghost wich brought back to life and now trapped in the Ever After with a demon who owns his soul, and (her current) a multi-billionaire industrialist elf.

In a book I was reviewing for another site, the heroine was some sort of designer of … stuff. It didn’t play a very prominent role in the book, just got mentioned as to how she had her own place, etc. Personally, I didn’t find it very believable, but then again the focus of the book was … well … on other stuff. The hero was a waiter, or at least that’s how he was presented though it turned out he had a secret profession (no, not a millionaire industrialist). Didn’t care for the book much.

Sometimes I wish I could just find a good paranormal where both are whatever supernatural creatures and they work normal, humdrum jobs (like a secretary and janitor maybe…a real janitor, not the boss posing as a janitor). I’d love to find that in a contemporary as well. Granted, jobs aren’t the point of romance novels, but I feel they help round out a character and they can certainly throw curveballs into a relationship.

How about you? What sort of jobs do you find most believable in your romance (or otherwise) novels?

ARC Review: Ruby

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RUBY

Author: Jeffe Kennedy
Publication Date: May 13, 2013
Publisher: Carina Press
Description:

RubyBook three of Facets of Passion
Danielle Sosna has no problem denying herself in order to achieve her goals—after all, that attitude landed her a dream job at Vogue Paris. But in New Orleans for one last assignment before heading overseas, she’s faced with the most decadent of temptations. Seductive Cajun chef Bobby Prejean takes Dani’s strength of will as a challenge, and offers her a night of wild indulgence—if she will agree to obey his every command…

Dani can’t resist Prejean’s invitation to join him in a world of carnal desire, complete with fetish costumes and masks. Determined to keep her emotional distance, she gives Prejean everything but her name. A night becomes a week, as she spends Mardi Gras suspended…in the delicious space where pleasure meets pain.

Too late, she realizes the cloak of anonymity has not protected her—and that chasing her dream might come at the expense of her heart.

For more Facets of Passion, check out Sapphire and Platinum, available now!

My Thoughts:

I have been a big fan of Ms. Kennedy (at least these Facets of Passion books) since I happened to be lucky enough to win a copy of Sapphire, the first book in the series (which I may have mentioned when I reviewed Platinum, found HERE), Tragically, I lost Sapphire and would love to read it again because it was a great book.

Ruby was no less a great book than Sapphire and Platinum were, though I think if I had to rate the three books in order of preference, it would be Ruby, Sapphire and then Platinum.

Dani is a successful woman, about to go off to Paris for a job she’s been dreaming of her entire life. Prejean is a very successful chef in New Orleans, where Dani is having her final shoot before going off to her Paris job.

Prejean spends a lot of time working with Dani and her food issues (because she works in the fashion magazine industry, she believes she needs to be stick thin like the models she works with), and introducing her to some sinfully yummy food (I got hungry multiple times while reading this book – well, hungry AND horny. Yes, I’ll be honest about that part). The BDSM was done very well (IMO), with newbie Dani getting worked into it by very experienced Prejean.

In the end, we got to see Dani become far more comfortable with who she is and while I didn’t (and continue to not) like the particular choice she makes (it’s a personal preference of mine regarding heroines), I can respect that she fell in love with Prejean and he her.

The only truly downer point was the spectacular tantrums both of them have toward the end. I really didn’t care for his assumptions regarding what she’d do regarding her life.

The secondary plot with her truly evil editor (the one she’s leaving for the job in Paris) and the editor’s reaction to Dani’s lovely magazine shoot idea. I think it would have made a great cover and not obscene (obviously the Paris editor thought so even if bad things happened because of the layout).

So – great book, hot sex and delicious food. Another spectacular book from Ms. Kennedy. Can’t wait for another one in the Facets series.

Book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

–Review by Victoria

heat Rating 4