THE DEVIL'S LOVE by Lane Harris

PUBLISHER: Dell, 2/1981
SETTING: Caribbean & France, 1768
GENRE: Historical Romance
BODICE RIPPER? Yes
MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: Untamed, unpredictable, utterly captivating, Christina was determined to live free as the wind--yet was fatally bound to the one man whose passion could imprison her forever.

A handsome privateer, the banished son of a Scottish earl, Kade roamed the seas, thriving on danger and the intrigue of a turbulent age. From her lush Caribbean paradise. Christina fled to the dazzling salons of Paris. But Kade had vowed to pursue her across the world... to make her see that at the end of her perilous journey lay the ecstasy they were powerless to resist and a glorious destiny forged by...The Devil's Love.

MY THOUGHTS: This story spans about three years. Christina Evrion is the heroine and is seventeen when it starts. She has blonde hair and light blue eyes. Kade Renault is the hero and his age wasn't given but I'm assuming he's in his thirties. There's usually a big age gap between hero and heroine in these old books. He has black hair and blue eyes.

Christina is a strange heroine. I think French is her native tongue. Until the end she never really even liked Kade and wanted a divorce. They'd met briefly once. Christina's father died and she couldn't inherit her money until she married. She had a terrible relationship with her stepmother, Hilda, and needed to get away from her and live on her own. Christina needed to marry to claim her inheritance so she asked Kade to marry her. She assumed he was going to die within a few days because he'd been captured by the Spanish. They married and much to her horror, he didn't die. She wanted to get a divorce but he didn't want to.

I liked Kade alright but Christina seemed slightly arrogant to me. When they were together I was just uninterested because nothing really happened between them. During the story they lived apart most of the time. He did cheat on her once with her childhood nemesis, Carlotta, while Christina was in France for over a year visiting relatives.

Really the only interesting part of the whole story took place during the last 100 pages or so when she was in France. Her male cousin, Dominique (curly blond hair and green eyes) is a very interesting character, in my opinion. He masquerades as a highwayman, robbing and murdering people. She's staying at his parents's home with him and his sisters. He becomes obsessed with her and ends up drugging and raping her. He also uses women terribly and when he gets yet another one, named Gabrielle, pregnant and wants nothing to do with her, she goes off the deep end and does something terrible...to them both.

The most boring part of the story is near the beginning over a chapter was devoted to how her Scottish father came to live in the Caribbean and how he met her deceased mother. I couldn't have cared less about their backstory.

There was some typical bodice ripper violence near the end when Kade traveled to France to be with Christina. He smacked her once and another time, spanked her. He's clearly physically and verbally abusive (calls her a cold bitch often) but I don't think the title suits him at all.

I'm disappointed with this book but did really like the last part and all the things involving Dominique. Sadly, this isn't a keeper.

I AM JENNIE by Jennie Ketcham, Former Adult Actor Penny Flame

Pub. Info: Gallery Books, 7/2012, Hardcover
Genre: Memoir/Autobiography
My Grade: A-

From Publisher: Drunk and high, holed up in a hotel room with a beautiful blonde she barely knew, Jennie Ketcham was thirty-six hours away from entering rehab. Her on-camera alter ego, Penny Flame, was a rising star. Her personal life, however, had been getting worse for years and finally hit an all-time low.

Guys are gonna want one thing from you. To Jennie’s young ears, her father’s advice meant one thing: You can use your sexuality to control men. Life was imploding around her: her parents’ divorce, their spiraling addictions, her deteriorating relationships with them. She lost her virginity at thirteen and began a game of initiating boys her age into manhood. For the fleeting moments she spent in bed with them, she got to be the center of attention.

Eventually, Jennie found porn—that enticing world of immediate gratification, endless drugs, and seemingly endless money—and became Penny Flame. Divorced from her feelings, tempted into a lifestyle she couldn’t afford, financially or emotionally, she entered Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew to boost her career. But when Dr. Drew and his staff insisted she go by her real name, the once indestructible walls she had built around herself began to burn down.

Two stories make up this direct and disarming memoir: that of a troubled girl desperately fleeing intimacy and herself, and that of a woman courageously breaking down emotional barriers to build a new life. Many will recognize Jennie’s struggles: confusing sex with self-worth, addiction with love, detachment with strength. Ultimately, I Am Jennie is a tale of a woman who considers herself a work in progress but who finally understands that the only person she can truly afford to be is herself.

MY THOUGHTS: I was excited to see that Jennie had written a book. I'd first heard of her when she was on VH1's Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, then its spinoff, Sober House. I've since seen one of her films (great scene in Reform School Girls, by the way!).

I really appreciate when adult actors tell us their stories. I don't understand what lead Jennie into becoming a promiscuous teenager or drug abuser. I never felt like her home life was bad and would like to understand that better. I don't see how her parents unhappy marriage could have sent her down a dangerous path.

She never discussed when she realized she was bisexual, how she felt about it nor did she mention if she ever discussed with a therapist being raped on a train. She also didn't mention if she thought doing porn was having some impact on her drug use.

The best part of the book was near the end when she met with an ex-boyfriend to apologize to him for her behavior while they were dating. That part really touched me. The funniest part was when she was talking with fellow actor and agent (?) Ben English and answered him in a faux British accent to mimic his.

The comment from her father in the synopsis about guys only wanting one thing from her isn't in full context. He said it to her because she was dressed in a short skirt when she was twelve or thirteen. He was letting her know that if she dressed like that, boys would only want one thing.

She's very honest and explicit and seems to have a great personality. The book was an interesting read and I'd recommend it to anyone who has a interest in the adult films. I happen to enjoy watching porn (I have plenty of it) but I'm happy she got out of the industry since she felt it wasn't the place for her any longer. According to her blog, Becoming Jennie, she seems to be doing fine and I wish her the best.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

THE OFFER by Catherine Coulter

PUBLISHER: Topaz, 1997
ORIGINAL PUB: Signet, 1981/88 under title An Honorable Offer
SETTING: England, 1814
GENRE: Historical Romance
BODICE RIPPER? No
MY GRADE: C

FROM PUBLISHER:  Lovely young Sabrina Eversleigh, granddaughter of the esteemed Earl of Monmouth first learned of the disreputable desires of men when her dissolute brother-in-law attempted to force himself upon her.

Thus when Sabrina met Phillip Mercerault, it came as no surprise to tier that this handsome, dashing Viscount kept a mistress in London and showed no shame about the many conquests and liaisons of his notorious love life.

Sabrina was sure that with so many women to serve his needs, Phillip would be quite satisfied to accept her wealth and leave her person alone if she became his wife. But two things Sabrina did not count on in her cold calculations: the heat of her own blood and the hunger of her heart...

MY THOUGHTS: This story started out pretty interesting. Sabrina is just eighteen. She has red hair and violet eyes. Her older sister, Elizabeth, twenty-three, is a jealous, nasty person, as is her twenty-seven year old husband, Trevor. Elizabeth is a bit controlled by him but because of her personality I can't feel sorry for her. She's a horrible person. She's so blinded by her jealousy of Sabrina that she truly doesn't care that she was almost raped by Trevor and insisted that Sabrina was lying.

After Sabrina and the hero, twenty-six year old Phillip, meet, the story got a bit boring and stayed that way until the end. I don't like or dislike Phillip. He's not alpha or beta, just somewhere inbetween. After they married he did continue to see his mistress but that didn't bother me. Something's lacking with this character that I just can't put my finger on. They got along really well for most of the story. There wasn't much conflict between them and that's something I need. I hate when hero and heroine get along too well. Boring.

One character that I did like was Sabrina's aunt, Lady Barresford. She's so unlikable. When Sabrina went to live with her and told about the attempted rape she called her a liar and said she tried to seduce Trevor. Such a nasty bitch, that woman is. She has no reason at all to think that of Sabrina. She even tried to get her hands of Sabrina's inheritance!

Teresa Elliott was a semi-interesting character. She's loved Phillip for a while and was really jealous and angry when he married Sabrina. I really though she was going to try and harm Sabrina but she never bothered her. To be honest, that's the main reason I finished reading this book.

I wasn't too happy with this story and even though Catherine is one of my top favorite authors, I won't be keeping this.

MISTRESS BY MISTAKE by Maggie Robinson

PUBLISHER: Brava, May 2010
SETTING: England, 1820
SERIES: Courtesan Court, #1
VIRGIN HEROINE? Yes
HEROINE: Charlotte Fallon, 30
HERO: Michael 'Bay' Bayard, 33
PURCHASE: link
GRADE: C

FROM PUBLISHER: Charlotte Fallon let her guarded virtue fall once -- and she's paid dearly for it ever since. She swore she'd never succumb to men's desires again. But even a village spinster's life miles from temptation can't save her from a sister with no shame whatsoever. Or a heart that longs for more, whatever the cost...

Sir Michael Bayard found more than he expected in his bed when he finally joined his new mistress. He'd fantasized about her dewy skin and luscious curves, assured her understanding that what passed between them was mere dalliance. But he didn't expect the innocence and heat of her response in his arms. Nor her surprisingly sharp tongue once she was out of them...

A few days of abandon cannot undo the hard-learned lessons of a lifetime. Nor can an honest passion burn away the restraints of society's judgments. Unless, of course, one believes in nonsense like true love...

MY THOUGHTS: I didn't care for this story. Too much humor ran throughout it. The lead characters never seemed to act serious. There was no depth to the story or characters. I found the beginning part of the plot a bit unbelievable. Charlotte wasn't responsible for the item her sister stole so Bay blackmailing her into staying and taking her sister Deborah's place was just crazy...and she had to have known it. She didn't come across as stupid so I don't know why she allowed herself to be blackmailed. I can only assume she wanted to take Deborah's place...and I can't say I blame her!

I really liked the female villain and thought her part could have been more eventful and should have lasted longer. The sex scenes seemed rushed and weren't graphic enough for me. I was expecting more in that category. Overall, I found the story and characters bland.

Maggie also writes under the name Margaret Rowe. You can visit her site here.

MISTRESS OF MY FATE by Hallie Rubenhold

PUBLISHER: Grand Central Publishing, 1/2013
ORIGINAL PUB: 2011 in the UK
GENRE: Historical Fiction
SETTING: England, late 1700s
AUTHOR SITE: Link
MY GRADE: A-

SYNOPSIS: Set during a period of revolution and turmoil, Mistress of My Fate is the first book in a trilogy about Henrietta Lightfoot, a young woman who was abandoned as a baby and raised alongside her cousins, noble children of a lord and lady. At just sixteen years old, circumstance and a passionate love affair tear Henrietta (Hetty) away from everything she knows, leading to a new life fending for herself on the streets of 18th century London as a courtesan, gambler, and spirited intellect of the city.

MY THOUGHTS:

Henrietta/Hetty: A lonely, naive teenager with only her cousin for a friend. She found herself in dire straits a few times and made some adult decisions because she felt she had no choice. She did the best she could.

Lady Catherine: Hetty's spoiled cousin. Not the nicest person to Hetty. I enjoy secondary characters like her a whole lot. I wish her character and her maids had been around longer. I just know she had some evil up her sleeve.

John St. John: Her mother's ex-lover. He's forty-four and she becomes his mistress at seventeen. I like him at first but he becomes so jealous that I start to get tired of him.

George Allenham: Hetty's love interest. I liked him at the beginning but as the story when on and he wasn't in it too much I began to dislike his character. I never understood why Hetty was so obsessed with being with him. I didn't think he was worth her time.

Philip Quindell: Hetty's 'protector'. He's about twenty-four, lovestruck/boderline obsessive and immature. I found him to be a bit annoying.

This was an enjoyable read told in first person narration. It spans about three years. Most of the story takes place in England and the last part, France.

My favorite part is when Hetty becomes St. John's mistress and devises a great plan to escape. I can't tell you anymore about it! My least favorite part is the last sixty-five pages or so. The story went in a different direction that I was expecting and it was a real letdown. I wish the last part could be rewritten, especially the ending.

This is one of just a few books that I've read lately that I really liked. I like historical fiction where the heroine is down on her luck or facing bad circumstances. There was something lacking in this. It needed more twists and turns, needed to be darker. It was a bit too mild. Accoring to the author's website, the next in the series, The French Lession, is to be darker. Yay!

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

UNEXPECTED PLEASURES by Mary Wine

PUBLISHER: Brava, 6/2012
GENRE: Historical Romance
SETTING: England, 1546
AUTHOR SITE: link
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: As Lady Justina Wincott's brutal guardian, Viscount Biddeford promises any disobedience from her will cost her son dearly. A pawn in his games of court treachery, the beautiful widow is forced to tempt secrets from his enemies and seduce allegiance from his friends. Yet even Biddeford's wrath won't make Justina sully the only man of honor she's ever known…

Sir Synclair has earned his honor in blood and muck. War taught him the way to victory is rarely clean--but the passion Justina sparks in him is not to be ignored. Never mind the predators who crave her beauty, or Biddeford's ruthless wiles; he will have her as his wife. And yet if he is to wed Justina, his fiercest battle may be with the lady herself…

MY THOUGHTS: What a disappointment. Neither main character was very interesting to me nor was the thin plot, which was too tame and boring. Justina is under the thumb of a terrible man, Biddeford. He's the most interesting character in the book. Predictably, bad things come his way.

Synclair is very alpha and I never understood his obsession with wanting to marry Justina. The sex scenes were very explicit and I enjoyed them. Sadly, the sex was the best part of the whole story.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

DEFIANT CAPTIVE by Kathy Jones

PUBLISHER: Zebra Heartfire, 11/1987
GENRE: Historical Romance
SETTING: West Indies, unknown date
BODICE RIPPER? Yes
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: B-

FROM PUBLISHER: Kathleen O'Connor refused to give in to despair. She'd proven how strong she could be--she'd survived weeks of terror in the dark hold of a pirate ship and had bravely faced the humiliation of the auction block. Now that she'd been sold to Captain Kade Morgan, it was time she planned her escape. The Irish beauty thought of his tall, muscular frame and sparkling ebony eyes and sighed. It would not be easy to flee the handsome pirate, especially when her traitorous body yearned for the rough magic of his embrace. But she'd be no man's slave--not even if her master had already tamed her wild heart!

Kade appraised his raven-haired prize with growing admiration. She had courage, all right. After all she'd been through, her blue-green eyes still gleamed with pride and fury. He had no desire to break her spirit, but he ached to replace that fury with willing passion. She was his to command and he had but one request--that she give herself to him with all the glorious fire in her soul. If she needed some... persuasion, he'd gladly supply it. He'd tease her full, red lips with searing kisses, he'd stroke her ivory skin until she writhed beneath his knowing touch. And in the end he'd possess all the wanton sweetness of his Defiant Captive.

MY THOUGHTS/SPOILER SUMMARY: This story started out good. Seventeen year old Kathleen was kidnapped and held for ransom. It was orchestrated by Quint Cathcart. He wants to buy her Arabian horse, Taran, but her father won't sell it. He and his men go there to steal the horse but can't find it, so they kidnap Kathleen instead and plan to hold her for ransom in exchange for her horse. Right before she's kidnapped, they burn her home to the ground and her mother dies in it. The ransom note they send to her father is accidentaly sent to her neighbor, Silas Pennington.

Her kidnapper, Quint, is angry about something so he sells her at auction. Thirty-five year old Scotsman Captain Kade Morgan buys her with the intention of sending her back to wherever she came from. She's held prisoner on his ship and Kade, in true bodice ripper fashion, treats her badly. The first sex scene is what I'd call forced seduction. All the sex scenes with them are spicy. The rest of the story is very boring but there's a bit of action right at the end involving Silas.

WHEN SHE WAS WICKED by Anne Barton

PUBLISHER: Forever, 2/2013
GENRE: Historical romance
SETTING: England, 1815
AUTHOR SITE: link
MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: A dressmaker in London's busiest shop, Miss Anabelle Honeycote overhears the ton's steamiest secrets-and (occasionally) uses them to her advantage. It isn't something she's proud of, but the reluctant blackmailer needs the money to care for her gravely ill mother. To make up for her misdeeds, Anabelle keeps to a firm set of rules:

Never request payment from someone who cannot afford it. Never reveal the secrets of a paying client. Never enter into any form of social interaction with a client.

Her list keeps her (somewhat) honest-until she encounters Owen Sherbourne, the Duke of Huntford.

Not only does Owen nip Anabelle's extortion plans in the bud, the devilishly handsome Duke soon has the sexy seamstress dreaming of more than silks and satins. With Owen Anabelle enjoys pleasures she never imagined. . . until a scandal from the past resurfaces. Now her rules could mean his family's ruin. Owen's searing kisses carry the promise of passion, but how will he react when Anabelle's most devastating secret is finally revealed?

MY THOUGHTS: This review contains spoilers. This was a disappointment. Both Owen and Anabelle are very likeable. I love that Anabelle wasn't raised wealthy and actually had a paying job. I was enjoying the book a lot until the plotline got taken over by Owen's sister, Rose. That subplot was uninteresting to me. From what I've heard and read, the only time someone stops speaking completely is a child that's been molested, not some teenager who caught a parent cheating. It's ridiculous.

I think the extortion plot could have gone on much longer before Owen found out it was Anabelle. Some interesting things could have gone on with him while trying to find out who the culprit was. In a nutshell, he found out it was her days later, invited her to live in his home to create dresses for his sisters, began a sexual relationship with her then the storyline disappeared. It was just Anabelle, Olivia, and Rose hanging around the house doing nothing. Then the Rose-not-speaking mystery was solved. Really nothing went on with the main couple. I just don't think this was a good, believable story at all.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

HAVEN OF OBEDIENCE by Marina Anderson

PUBLISHER: Grand Central Publishing 11/2012
First published in the U.K. in 2000
GENRE: Contemporary Erotica
SETTING: England
MY GRADE: B-

FROM PUBLISHER: Twenty-something Londoner Natalie Bowen is envied by many, but her personal life is a disaster. Then she hears about an exclusive weekend retreat called The Haven, a place that specializes in introducing people to pleasures they could never have imagined. Shocked at the idea, but unable to resist finding out more, Natalie decides it's time to put her hears behind her. Once at The Haven, Natalie meets the enigmatic and disciplined Simon, a man who is used to getting what he wants. And he's decided he wants Natalie...

MY THOUGHTS: I was excited to read this but became disappointed midway. At the club early on, the way some of the characters acted made no sense, including the main character, Natalie. They constantly complained and never wanted to do what they were told even though they're paying to use the club and are there of their own free will. I got real tired of the complaints. I realize this is fiction but someone in their position, who's paying to use a sex club to be taught how to give up some control in the bedroom, wouldn't act like that at all.

My enjoyment of all the sexual senarios that went on was diminished by the excessive amount of orgasms Natalie was having. Total overkill on the author's part and it got old real quick.

The story was too condensed and rushed. There was no character development and we learned nothing about Natalie and Simon's backgrounds. Basically, the story wasn't well written and needs a lot of work...but it does have potential if it was to be reworked. It seems amateurish.

I received this in exchange for an honest review.

LORD GRAY'S LIST by Maggie Robinson

PUBLISHER: Brava, 11/2012
SETTING: England, 1820
GENRE: Historical romance
SERIES: The London List, #1
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: C

FROM PUBLISHER: The brainchild of Evangeline Ramsey, the London List features the latest gossip as well as blind advertisements. Every London resident, from the lowliest kitchen maid to the most exalted duchess, looks forward to Tuesday morning, when the newspaper publishes and speculation rises.

Baron Benton Gray is sick of finding his latest peccadilloes printed in the London List - and shocked to find his old love, Evangeline Ramsey, at the helm. He buys the newspaper from her ailing father with the intention of shutting it down, only to face uproar from its eager readers. Forced to enlist Evie's aid to re-start the newspaper, he finds that putting the paper to bed becomes an unexpected pleasure for them both...unexpected plot twists, humour, and plenty of "romangst."

MY THOUGHTS: I wasn't at all happy with this book. It's not believable that Evie could masquerade as a man for years and get away with it. I just couldn't get past that. She and Ben were likable and I enjoyed the dialogue between them, the way they were always aruging. I don't like a heroine being as old as her, thirty-two, nor do I like that Evie was slightly older than Ben, who's thirty.

I didn't like that Evie's big nose was mentioned often nor did I like the bit of violent nonsense involving Evie and another female character about halfway through the book. It came out of nowhere. Something else that had no place in the book was when some woman came to Evie and wanted her to write a bad story about her abusive husband. Ben got involved in that for no reason and I just had to roll my eyes and wonder why that character was even in the story.


I received this from the author in exchange for an honest review.