THE SECRET LIVES OF ADULT STARS DOCUMENTARY DVD

STUDIO: Xenon Pictures, Inc.
RELEASED: 2004/84 minutes
RATING: R
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: B

FROM DVD: Thirty porn stars discuss, in their own words, life in the Adult film industry. Topics such as the toll on personal relationships, physical demands, the risks of AIDS transmission, drug use and social stigmas are addressed in disturbingly candid interviews. From new starlets to legends, male and female, this is what it's like to be an Adult Star.

You'll meet Nina Hartley, a former nurse who is a frequent speaker at many events supporting free speach and sex education, and a co-star in the film Boogie Nights; I.S. Levine, editor for Flynt Publications and co-author of the book Coming Attractions, he has written numerous articles for Details and Rolling Stone and is an on-camera consultant for E! Entertainment's Hollywood Profiles; Julia Ann, Juli Ashton, Shayla La Veaux, Brittany Andrews, Anna Malle, Kylie Ireland, Felecia, Sasha Monet, Randy West, Tony Tedeschi, Asia Carrera, Bud Lee, Caressa Savage, Chloe, Jill Kelly, Steven Hatcher, Mike Raven, Nicole Sheridan, Bella Starr, Steven St. Croix, Devon Wolf and Melanie Stone.

Here at last are the real stories of the real people wo reisk their reputations, their health- even their lives- to create America's sexual fantasies. The lives of Adult Stars are secret no more.

MY THOUGHTS: This was a decent documentary but could have been so much better. This is rated R so no penis shots or closeups of vagina's. The interviews were conducted on-set with each actor chatting about various things. I'd have preferred it if they'd been interviewed in a different setting like you'd see on biography-type shows instead of outdoors and indoors while they're killing time between scenes.

Only a couple people talked briefly about how they got into the business and that was disappointing to me. I wanted to know what lead each and every one of them to this line of work but learned nothing about it, really.

I didn't care for Brittany Andrews and found her to be a bit arrogant and foul-mouthed, like some would expect someone in her line of work to act and speak. She said male actors who have trouble maintaining an erection are 'losers' and said she felt bad for the men who had to have sex with 'ugly girls'. She seems to think she's hot shit but I don't find her face, or attitude, to be attractive at all. She said that 'fluffers' don't exist in the porn industry, you know, girls who try to keep the guys erect between takes. Total myth.

Something interesting that I'd not heard of is something called a FIP, which stands for fake internal pump. So some of the 'money shots' are faked....I guess. No one said that exactly but it lead me to believe that's what they were talking about. I can't find any info on it so if you know more about it let me know!

Asia Carrera said that some of the small-breasted women who do stripping too don't earn as much as the large-breasted women and that's why some end up getting breast implants. So I guess you gotta spend money to make money! Asia doesn't strip, I think she said she's too 'chicken' for that (go figure!) but got implants anyway....and talked about how nice they were. They do look pretty natural because they hang like real ones and aren't round and melon-like like most implants are. Jill Kelly was massaging one of hers.

Nina Hartley jokingly put her hand on some man's crotch and said that some would consider that to be rude but she thought the opposite! She was a nurses before she got into porn but unfortunately she never mentioned it.

There's a filmography for each of the actors in the bonus features and a short 2-6 minute interview with the director and producer that wasn't that good.

Overall, this was alright but not as good as I'd hoped. The description from the DVD makes it sound a bit more interesting that it is.

This came from my personal collection. Same review here. (site NSFW)

BOUND BY THE HEART by Marsha Canham

PUBLISHER: Avon, 10/1984
GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance
SETTING: Caribbean & Barbados, 1811/12
BODICE RIPPER? Yes, very mild
PURCHASE: link
AUTHOR SITE: link
MY GRADE: D

FROM PUBLISHER: Rescued from the stormy waters of the Caribbean, Summer Cambridge, daughter of the British governor of Barbados faced a new threat aboard the American ship Chimera. Captain Morgan Wade, the notorious buccaneer, brazenly ordered the young beauty to his cabin to be held for his own pleasure!

Summer fought him with the ferocity of a wildcat, but held by his insistent passion, she was swept by waves of desire she had never known, and was powerless to resist him.

Even as she returned to Barbados and the marriage that had been arranged for her, she still trembled with memories of those days and nights of forbidden passions, and of the man whose love would forever hold her heart captive.

MY THOUGHTS: I'm reviewing the out of print paperback from 1984, not the rewritten e-book, which has the rape scene removed.

Summer is blond with gray-green eyes. Her age was never given so I'll assume she's in her early twenties. She's a typical, slightly boring heroine. Not very feisty like I prefer, especially in these older books.

The American hero, Morgan, is thirty-four years old and has long black hair and blue eyes. He buys cargo and guns legally then sells them to the French, then transports them to America. In typical bodice ripper fashion, he rapes Summer aboard his ship once or twice (page 35 of print book) and makes no apologies for it. That's pretty much where his abuse of her ends.

I liked her terrible husband Bennett Winfield. He lost interest in her right after they married. He suspected her of harboring feelings for Morgan and a secret, and forbade her ever seeing him again and threatened to ruin her and her family if she did. He's shown violence towards her too. I like him much more than I do Morgan.

The story spans about a little over a year, beginning in June 1811. This just wasn't a good story at all. It fits my criteria of a mild bodice ripper; it had the typical arrogant hero, rape, a decent amount of time apart from each other (over a year), and evil secondary characters and lots of action involving ships.

Morgan's slightly younger half brother, Stuart Roarke was just pointless in this story.

I liked the first 119 pages when Summer and her ten year old brother Michael were on Morgan's ship then island, Bounty Key, but once she returned home about a third of the way into the story, boring throughout the rest of the novel. The last fifty pages or so was nothing but one ship fighting against another and I truly forced myself to finish the book. It majority was so uninteresting to me. I really feel like this historical romance turned into purely historical fiction. The only good thing I can say about this is that I love the cover.

WHERE PASSION LEADS by Lisa Klepyas

PUBLISHER: Onyx, 1987 (her first novel)
SETTING: England/France, 1816
HEROINE: Rosalie Belleau, 20
HERO: Randall Berkeley, 28
VIRGIN HEROINE: Yes
BODICE RIPPER? No
RAPE? Yes, once by hero
MY GRADE: B

SYNOPSIS: Beautiful young Rosalie Belleau was swept up into an aristocratic world of luxury, license and intricate intrigue when the most notorious and handsome rake in London, Lord Randall Berkeley; abducted her in the belief that she was any man’s for the taking. Before he realized his mistake, he had branded her with his desire-and lost his heart to this girl so unlike any he had ever known. Both Rosalie, waking to womanhood, and Sir Randall, learning the power of lose, were in the dark about each other–until the flames of passion lit their way through a labyrinth of danger… to the dazzling heights of ecstasy….

SPOILER SUMMARY:

HEROINE: She's 20 year old Rosalie Belleau, born in 1796 in France. She's got long dark hair and blue eyes. She's an only child. Rosalie is personal maid to Lady Winthrop and companion to her daughter Elaine.

HERO: He's 28 year old Randall Berkeley but goes by 'Rand'. He's got "deep amber hair" and "unfashionably dark skin", hazel eyes. Has one brother named Colin. He's two years younger than Rand.

The book opens with Rosalie asking her mother Amille about her father. Amille said her father had been a confectioner who had died when Rosalie was one month old. Amille wanted to change the subject. Amille asked Rosalie what she wanted out of marriage. Rosalie wanted contentment. She said she wanted to live and had a suspicion that she'll end up a spinster.

Rand and his grandfather were discussing the family business, Berkeley Shipping. Rand said he'd take care of the problem that they were having with the business and would travel to France to take care of it. His grandfather told him that he didn't like that he was the first born, making him heir to his grandfathers fortune, since Rand's parents were dead. He then told Rand he didn't think he was deserving of the fortune and that he trusted his brother Colin more.

Rand went to the club to hang out with his friends before traveling to France the next day. While he was there, Rosalie and her mother Amille were at the theater. A candle on stage caught the curtains on fire, so everyone ran out of the place out into the street. Some man was chasing after Rosalie, grabbing at her and she scratched his face. He punched her and knocked her out cold. She fell and her face landed on Rand's foot. He'd just come out of the club with his friends. Rand picked her up and put her over his shoulder. The dock worker who'd been chasing Rosalie told Rand that she was his since he'd been chasing her so Rand paid the man for his 'trouble'. Rand took her home in his carriage.

She woke up in Rand's bed with a terrible headache and called out for her mother, since she was a bit disoriented. The first thing Rand said to her was, "So they're blue", talking about her eyes. She asked him how he came to be there and he told her she was accosted the night before and that it had been impossible for him to ignore her. She said she needed to leave. He told her to sit down so they could discuss what she owed him for rescuing her. She told him she owed him nothing and he said, the hell you don't!" She got up, dressed only in her chemise, and started to get dressed. Rand told her, "I wouldn't bother with that just yet." She continued to get dressed and he told her to put the garment down. She told him he wouldn't bed her and grabbed up his razor and threatened him with it. He grabbed her wrist and put the blade up to her throat, causing her to get nicked. He put a cloth up to her neck to get up the blood and she smacked him. He kissed her and dragged her over to the bed. He took his robe off, revealing his nakedness. He spread her arms wide and she said, "Don't do this to me. You could have anyone." She told him she was a virgin and he said he didn't believe her. She said it was true and he said, "Then it seems I'm called upon to find proof of your claim." Then he raped her and found that she was indeed a virgin; he saw the blood.

She knew she couldn't return to work since she didn't come home the night before and Rand knew it too. He didn't want her to have to become a prostitute so he told her she was going with him to France for a few weeks, until he could figure out what to do with her. She told him she didn't want to have to 'submit' to him for even one night and he said he wouldn't touch her. She said she didn't know what to do and he told her to decide whether or not she was going with him or not. She decided to go with him and wrote a letter to her mother, letting her know where she was going.

They arrived in France and shared adjoining rooms. They later went to the dressmakers to have clothing made for her. They spent two weeks avoiding each other and really only saw each other at dinner. He opened up a bit about himself. He told her his mother was French and she and his father had lived together in London while he and his brother Colin had been raised by servants in another household in England. When Rand was in his early teens, his father was suffering with gout and moved in with he and his brother. His father started drinking heavily because of gout pain. To amuse himself, he'd force Rand to drink too. Rand became an alcoholic. His mother knew about it but didn't do anything to stop it. She'd grown up wealthy in France. A few years later his mother died in labor with another mans child. His grandparents made him sober up and sent him away to school. A year later his father died. Rand told Rosalie that he wanted to sell the French estates that belonged to his mother.

Rand left the room then to go do something and Rosalie broke down and cried for him and his childhood. She berated herself and asked how she could cry for him after what he'd done to her. Later she told him he didn't have any respect for her and he said he did. She was remembering a dance they'd shared recently and she realized then that she was starting to care for him, her rapist. They then went to visit his friend George Brummell, who goes by the name "the Beau", again. He recognized the pin Rosalie was wearing on a ribbon around her neck. It had the letter B on it, which she was told by her mother stood for their last name, Belleau, and said the pin had been her fathers. Beau called in his servant who then told everyone that that was the same pin Beau, who is 18 years older than Rosalie, gave to a girlfriend, Lucy Doncaster many, many years before. On a previous visit, Beau and told Rosalie that she resembled Lucy and showed her a photo of her from a locket. He told them that Lucy disappeared one day way back then and a year later, was found dead in the river, where she'd drowned herself. Rosalie's mother Amille had been Lucy's governess then. So it looks like George 'the Beau' Brummell and Lucy Doncaster may be Rosalie's parents. Lucy must have given Rosalie to Amille to raise. That would mean that soon after Rosalie's birth, Lucy drowned herself.

Rosalie is very upset by this news, so they leave to go back to the hotel. The next day Rand went to see Beau. He told Beau that because of all the debt he left behind in England, he'd better never tell anyone that Rosalie may be his daughter because she may be thrown into debtors' prison. Days later, Rand was shown a newspaper article that said it's rumored that Rosalie is the daughter of Beau. Rand became jealous at the thought of men chasing after her when they find out she's the daughter of a famous man. He got the idea then to marry her, to protect her from Beau's debt. He went home and decided not to tell Rosalie about the article. He asked her to go to Paris with him for a week because he had business to discuss. He wanted to shield her from the rumor. She agreed to go with him.

One night after arriving in Paris, she and Rand were dancing together after dinner. She thought to herself that she was in love with him. They went back to their hotel room. Her luggage had been put into the ajoining room but she didn't want to leave Rand's room, so she asked him to unlace the back of her dress. He told her she'd better go but she didn't move. She said his name and he asked her if she knew what she was doing. She said yes, so they had sex. The next night at the opera house, a woman came up to Rand and Rosalie. She told Rosalie she must be the famous Miss Belleau, then told her she'd been written about in the paper. They went home. Rosalie was mad because Rand hadn't told her about the article in the paper. She said when they got back to London, she was going to find a job and ask her mother about Beau. Rand said he couldn't let her live alone in London, then asked her to marry him. She said she didn't want to marry him or be kept by him. She loves him, though she hasn't told him yet, and thinks that one day he'll lose interest in her. He said to her, "You'll marry me if I have to tempt, bully and seduce you into it." They had sex then got into an argument over her not wanting to marry him.

Rand left the room then Rosalie got violently sick fromt he wine. She rang for a maid then passed out. The doctor was called in and Rand figured that the wine had been drugged with opium. He tried to find out who could have drugged it but came to the conclusion that it'd be impossible to figure it all because there were so many kitchen staff workers and servants. He knew that Beau had gossiped about Rosalie possibly being his daughter and that may have led to her being poisoned. He wrote to Mr. Bonchamps, inquiring about Beau's credit 'affairs'. He told the man to visit with each and every person Beau has done business with and tell them to cut off his credit. That night in the room with Rosalie, Rand saw someone unlock the door then go over to Rosalie. It was dark so Rand couldn't see who it was. Rand grabbed the man around the neck from behind and the man stabbed Rand then fled. The maid came into the room, 15 year old Mireille Germain, to tend to his wound. He told her to not mention the intruder to anyone. A few days later Rand was sitting by Rosalie's bedside while she was still unconcious. He told her she had broken him and asked her not to leave him here alone. Just then Rosalie woke up. He asked Mireille, the maid, to bring her some broth and water. Rand knew someone was out to get Rosalie, so they, along with the maid, left for his familys chateau. He told her she needed to recover in the country. He didn't tell her about the intruder.

One day, she found a drunk Rand sitting in front of a portrait of his mother. Thinking about his parents had upset him so he started drinking. He told her to get out. She told him he's not accountable for anything his parents had done. When she awoke the next day, the village bell was ringing. There was a fire in the village. Rand showed up and Rosalie begged him not to help with the fires but he went anyway. He told her to say at the house but later, he saw her helping out in the village. He asked her why she'd disobeyed him and she said, "Because I love you." Later that night in her bedroom, he told her that he loved her and asked her again to marry him. She said yes.

A letter arrived from her mother, Amille. She confirmed that Lucy and Beau were indeed her parents. Amille also told Rosalie that she should stay in Rand's care as long as possible but she didn't say why. At the same time her letter was delivered, Rand got a letter from his brother notifying him of their grandfathers death. They needed to go back to England within a few days. Rand wanted the maid Mireille and her older brother Guillaume to go with them. Guillaume had showed up there one day after Mireille told him she was going with Rand and Rosalie to the chateau. Rand allowed him to say and found work for him. Before leaving for England, Rosalie, Mireille and Guillaume went to the fair. Rosalie wanted to have her fortune read so there were heading to the where the Gypsy lady was. Guillaume made up a lie about having dropped the money purse and he asked his sister to go look for it. She went to look for it and Guillaume grabbed Rosalie's wrists and tied them, gagged her and tied her legs together. He told her that the world is not good to people like her. He gave her to the Gypsy woman and she left with her. Guillaume told Mireille what he'd done, told her that someone was offering a lot of money to kidnap Rosalie and that the two of them were going to be rich. Mireille had grown close to Rosalie and shocked at what her brother had done. She told him she never wanted to see him again and walked away from him. She left a note for Rand telling him her brother is the one who stabbed him in Paris and that he's sent Rosalie to London. Mireille wasn't heard from again.

Rand returned home to England and told his brother Colin what had happened. He got Colin to go around to various clubs to see if he could find out anyhing about Rosalie. When Rand was in a club, he met Rosalie's mother, Amille. They went back to her home to talk privately. She told him that Lucy had been deeply in love with Beau but he didn't love her. She was supposed to marry the Earl of Rotherham, but she didn't want to and that he was very obsessed with her. Lucy was pregnant with Rosalie and very depressed so she and her governess Amille traveled from England to France to say with Amille's family. Lucy never told her family she was pregnant. She gave birth to Rosalie in France, then drowned herself a few months later. Amille hadn't planned to raise Rosalie but ended up doing so. She made up the story about Rosalie's father and being widowed. She told him it was probably the Earl of Rotherham that was after Rosalie, not Beau.

Back in England, Rosalie was being held in a bedroom. The Earl of Rotherham came into the room. He told her that Lucy had been his and since Rosalie is her daughter, she now belonged to him. He told her she was a whore like her mother. She hit him in the throat and ran out of the room. As she was running toward the front door, Rand, out of the blue, showed up, since Amille told him the Earl probably had her. Rotherham was watching from the top of the stairs and he challanged Rand to a saber fight, which of course, Rand won.

Last chapter begins with them taking about it being their first day was husband and wife. Rand said she has men searching all over for Guillaume. Rosalie told him she wants her maid Mireille found. That's how the book ended.
_______________

MY THOUGHTS: I thought this was a pretty good book and I never got bored with it. What I liked most about it was her 15 year old maid Mireille. Mireille is very guarded about her past. Her brother said once that their mother was a prostitute and that he and Mireille are half siblings. At the end of the book Mireille up and disappeared but guess what? She's got her own story in this books sequel, "Forever My Love". In the book she's 20 years old and uses the name Mira.

VICE AVENGED by Lolah Burford With Author Image

PUBLISHER: MacMillan, 1971, hardcover
Fawcett Paperback, 1972, pictured here
GENRE: Historical Fiction
AUTHOR'S BOOKLIST: link
MY GRADE: A

FROM PUBLISHER: In 18th-century England young men gathered in private clubs to devise mischievous and exciting schemes to while away their idle hours. So it was with Bysshe, the young Marquis of Gore and his friends. They were bored, very bored. What they wanted was a delicious new game--a shocking, sensational, dangerously different was to spice up their long days. And together they thought up an ingenious idea. One of them would ravish a virgin of good family, an innocent maiden to be chosen by lot. Only a game, they said. And so it was until the plan backfired. Suddenly the game had become a sadistic round of violence and vengeance.

This is the authors first book and is dedicated to author GEORGETTE HEYER. I love how in the 'author's note' before the story begins the author herself says, "Here is an eighteenth-century fairy tale, frankly unserious, frankly unrealistic, for a realistic, serious Age." Love it!

SPOILER SUMMARY: This is a bizarre tale, only 224 pages long but what a tale it is! It takes place in England in the 1700s but no specific year is given. Bysshe, Marquis of Gore, is somewhere around 26 years old. He and three of his friends are bored, bored, bored one night while sitting around in a gaming 'hell'. Viscount Lisle says to them that he'd like to do something that there's "some risk to", and something that ladies wouldn't care to wisper about in their salons. Then he said that he thinks they should 'seduce the quality', an unmarried girl.Each of the four men drew names. Byshee drew the name Cressida "Cressy" Daviot, twenty-two, someone he knew. The next night, May 1st, after leaving his parents home, he went to her home, guessed at which window was hers, climbed up a rope ladder he'd brought, climbed into her room and put a mask on.He went over to her bed, tied a cloth over her mouth and tied her hands and legs together, threatened to hit her with his fist if she made a sound, carried her over his shoulder and out the window, taking the ladder with him to his carriage. They traveled to nearby hills, layed her down on bearskin rugs and said this horrible thing to her:

"You will wonder why I have brought you here" he said in a level voice, "and I will tell you. I intend to rape you. You are miles alway from any house, or any road, or anyone who could hear you, scream you never so loud or long. Do you understand me? There is no one, absolutely no one who can hear you who will come to your aid- and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can prevent my doing to you exactly what I fully mean to do. I have brought you here to do it, and never doubt I shall. Put all hopes of that aside."

He took her back home, changed her nightgown, kept the dirty one and cut off a lock of her hair (like a serial killer would do) as proof of what he'd done. Charles, one of Byshee's friends recognized the nightgown (yeah, right!) as belonging to his cousin, who's several times removed from the family. Charles felt bad about what happened so he sent a note to Cressy's father informing him of what happened.

Her father read the note the next day and told her twin brothers about what happened. They came up with a plan.... Cressy's father invited Byshee to a party at their home and had someone bring him into another room. Her father and brothers were waiting with weapons when Byshee came into the room. They gagged him and her father told him they knew what happened, didn't say how they knew, and that he was making Byshee marry her. (WTF?! Who want's their daughter to marry a rapist, I ask you?) Byshee refused then agreed after being threatened with a beating. Byshee was still denying he'd raped her so he wouldn't sign a paper saying he'd done it, but he did sign some other legal papers.

They brought Cressy in to see Byshee, she didn't recognize him, they told her he wanted to marry her but she refused and left the room. Her father told her who Byshee was and what he'd done and that he's making her marry him. Byshee is being held captive there and beaten every day until he signs the paper saying he raped her. But Cressy doesn't know a thing about the beatings. Byshee breaks down one day, tells her he's being held against his will and that they should marry right away. The entire family travel to France. (Why?)

After the wedding, the two of them traveled to Italy, where they spent three months. When they finally got back home, Byshee started using opium, which was 'fashionable' at the time.

One day at the club, Byshee confronted Charles and told him he knew he'd told Cressy's father about what he'd done. Charles denied it, called Byshee a liar, so they dueled and Charles got shot in the chest by Byshee but survived. Charles then told Byshee that Cressy was his cousin and that's why he'd told on him. Charles is about 20 years old.

Cressy's brothers and father kidnapped Byshee, put him on Cressy's brother Kit's yacht and spent six hours traveling to France. Once there, they locked him in a room with a window, chair and table. He cried. He was kept there about a week then was moved to a large one room apartment and was held prisioner there for months. The money for the apartment ran out, he was moved to a small room again and was kept there until about eight months later when he was set free.

He wandered around, came to a home, asked the people if he could bathe and shave and ended up staying there, helping to work the land. About seven months later, he sent Cressy a letter asking her to send his valet to him. Cressy and Byshee's father traveled with the valet to France. He did not tell her that he was there because her father kidnapped him. Cressy just thought he left of his own free will TWO YEARS before.

They left to go back to England. Byshee still didn't tell her about her father kidnapping him. Byshee finally confessed to Cressy that he was the one who raped her, and that it had been part of a bet, "a vile, foolish, brutal, stupid bet. But how I won!" During his two year absence, Cressy gave birth to a  boy.

And they all lived happily ever after!

I read somewhere on the internet years ago (in an obit that I can't find) that Lolah died in 2002. Below is an image of her, taken from the back of the hardcover edition of her book Vice Avenged.

Here's some info on her.

MURDER MOST MALICIOUS by Alyssa Maxwell

PUBLISHER: Kensington, 12/2015
GENRE: Historical Mystery
SETTING: England, December 1918
SERIES: A Lady and Lady's Maid Mystery, #1
PURCHASE: link
AUTHOR SITE: link
MY GRADE: B-

FROM PUBLISHER: December 1918: As a difficult year draws to a close, there is much to celebrate for nineteen-year-old Phoebe Renshaw and her three siblings at their beloved family estate of Foxwood Hall. The dreadful war is finally over; eldest daughter Julia's engagement to their houseguest, the Marquis of Allerton, appears imminent; and all have gathered to enjoy peace on earth, good will toward men.

But the peace of Foxwood Hall is shattered on the morning of Boxing Day, when the Marquis goes missing. Not entirely missing, however, as macabre evidence of foul play turns up in gift boxes given to lady's maid Eva Huntford and a handful of others. Having overheard her sister and the Marquis in a heated exchange the night before, Lady Phoebe takes a personal interest in solving the mystery.

As the local constable suspects a footman at Foxwood Hall, Phoebe and Eva follow the clues to a different conclusion. But both young women will need to think outside the box to wrap up this case--before a cornered killer lashes out with ill will toward them. . .

MY THOUGHTS: This sounded very interesting and indeed parts were, like the foul 'gift' included in several gift boxes for several of the employees of Foxwood Hall. The whole story was very ordinary, slow-paced, and not a whole lot went on. It certainly isn't action-packed. This was a very mild mystery that seemed like it was for young adults.

There were entirely too many characters to keep track of and I have about 1 1/2 pages of names written down in my notes so I could keep up with everyone...and still had trouble remembering who's who. I think some of them were added just to help fill pages.

There's no depth to the story or characters. I like Eva a lot and would have liked to have gotten some background information on her. Julia, Phoebe's older sister, is very unfriendly, even to Phoebe, and I didn't get to find out why, or much else about her.

I'm not happy with who the culprit was, his reasons for doing what he did and passing out the 'gifts' he did though I loved what the author chose for him to do. Not original but imaginative. I'm sick and tired of authors' having the culprit confess to at least one person, usually his next potential victim, right at the end of the story, then he/they're captured and the story is wrapped up with a pretty bow. That doesn't happen in real life.

Though my review is mostly critical I still enjoyed the story. It was slightly boring because of the pace and I did wish it would move along faster throughout most of it but it still held my interest. I liked both lead characters, Phoebe and Eva. Not quite thirty pages into the story is when the mystery began, and for that I'm happy. I'm impatient so I appreciated not having to get halfway through the story before anything big happened.

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

MIDNIGHT WALTZ by Jennifer Blake

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Casablanca, 8/2011
ORIGINAL PUBLICATION: 1984
SETTING: Louisiana, 1856
HEROINE: Amalie Declouet, 24
HERO: Robert Farnum, 31ish
BODICE RIPPER? Maybe
RAPE? Yes
GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: In the aristocratic world of the magnificent plantations of nineteenth-century Louisana, yound Amalie knows how to behave as the new mistress at Belle Grove, but her arranged marriage to Julien Declouet is full of surprises.

Amalie finds her husband perfectly polite, although oddly aloof, by day, but a completely different man when he visits her in her chambers at night, full of white-hot emotions and passion that sweeps her away. As the steamy Louisiana summer swelters onward, and the mystery of her husband's dual personalities intensifies, Amalie finds herself engulfefd in an emotional storm that threatens to wreak destruction on them all...

MY THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed this story. It was definitely different than the rest. Julien and Amalie have a dysfunctional marriage when it comes to sex and we can figure out why. Julien and his cousin Robert, whom I really like, are good friends and Robert is clearly jealous, and envious, of him. They work together, along with Julien's mother, who isn't the sweet old lady she's made out to be, and come up with a terrible plan to fool Amalie. And it works and goes undiscovered...for a time. That's when the unusual plotline comes into play and I enjoyed it. In fact, I've had to seek out more like it.

It was a bit slow moving throughout and there was a lack of background information on the lead characters, which disappointed me. That's why I didn't give it an A+. I was also interested in the murder mystery involving an important character and was surprised to find who was behind it.

Other books with same theme:

Annalise by Libby Sydes
Arrow to the Heart by Jennifer Blake
Autumn Rain by Anita Mills
Blackheart by Tamara Leigh
Cat Lady by Joan Overfield
Deceptive Heart by Maureen Kurr
In the Garden of Temptation by Cynthia Wicklund (ebook only)
Kissed by Shadows by Jane Feather
Lark by Norah Hess (contemp. romance)
Midnight Waltz by Jennifer Blake- does without her knowledge
One Wicked Night by Shelley Bradley
Prisoner of My Desire by Johanna Lindsey
Secrets of the Night by Jo Beverley
The Crystal Heart by Katherine Deauxville
The Fulfillment by LaVyrle Spencer
Waking Up With a Duke by Lorraine Heath
Wicked Little Game by Christine Wells

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

NEVER CALL IT LOVE by Veronica Jason

PUBLISHER: Signet, 12/1978
GENRE: Historical Romance

SETTING: England/Ireland/W. Indies/America, 1778

TIMESPAN: 5-6 years
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: C

FROM PUBLISHER: When beautiful young Elizabeth Montlow lost her innocence it was not on a night of romantic dreams. It was in an act of savage violence by a man seeking vengeance.

Yet from this brutal beginning came an all-consuming passion that would take Elizabeth from the sheltered eighteenth-century English countryside to a lonely manor in Ireland, where she was forced to share her man with his ravishing and ruthless mistress... to a nightmare exile on a lush and licentious Caribbean island, where lust and murder went hand in hand... to the depths of the lawless American wilderness, where two men played a monstrous game of heart-wrenching deception with her as the stake...

MY THOUGHTS/SPOILERS: This didn't live up to my expectations at all. I learned of it at least five years ago online from someone who said it reminded her a bit of Stormfire. There were just a couple similarities, like hero and heroine's nationality, rape, hero being a smuggler, ect., but the plotlines/core of the story were dissimilar.

Elizabeth is twenty-three, dark brown hair, gray eyes, and is from England. I found Elizabeth to be very bland and passive. Patrick is from Ireland but lives in England, is tall and thin, has a 'dark' complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, and is thirty-two. He's been smuggling arms, cannons, and muskets for ten years. The story begins and ends in England, 1778-1783.

The first 100 pages of the story were the best of all and were mostly about Elizabeth's eighteen-year old disturbed brother, Christopher, the blond Golden Child. Christopher and his friends were wearing masks when they kidnapped and raped Anne Reardon, Patrick's seventeen-year old ward, in Christopher's unoccupied family home. They fooled her into thinking they'd let her go. They let her run away from them, they chased her, and she jumped out the window and died later from her injuries. He fooled Elizabeth and their mother into believing he was innocent but Elizabeth always had doubts. I find Christopher to be one interesting character, the most interesting of the entire story.

Patrick, who'd met Anne briefly at a ball or something the previous year, was very angry at her for covering for her brother, whom he believed responsible for Anne's death. He broke into her bedroom one night, demanding to know where her brother fled after the trial. She wouldn't give him any information so he raped her (p. 89), after slapping her for struggling. That's his only violence toward her in the story.

For me, the story went downhill from there and became very boring. They got married because she was in a desperate situation. Patrick had been considering marrying Miora Ashley, a wealthy twenty-seven year old widow back in Ireland. I'm not sure why he wanted to marry Elizabeth. He didn't really feel any affection toward her and though she brought a dowry to the marriage, he had much more to gain by marring Miora. Miora became his mistress only after realizing she could no longer marry him, since he was married to Elizabeth. She disappeared from the story for awhile and was brought back to give the readers a suspect for an event that caused Patrick, Elizabeth, and Colin to flee to the West Indies.

The most boring part of all was when Patrick, Elizabeth, and his half-brother Colin were forced to flee the West Indies (after already having to flee England because Patrick was caught planning an uprising against England) and settled in America (Pennsylvania). There they had to live off the land and it made for dull reading. Not much happened the entire few years they lived there until Elizabeth got bad news about Patrick that lead me to believe they wouldn't have a happy ending.

Something eventful, a few confessions, happened near the end involving a secondary character that I didn't see coming. This person had lied about several important things and were involved in murder because they were angry and jealous of another person. I felt a little sad for them at the end.

It was mentioned very early on that Patrick and Colin were responsible for Anne's father Tim's death in a boating accident but the reason for that was never given. We weren't told if the death was intentional or not.

I don't think Patrick ever told Elizabeth that he loved her though she did overhear him once talking out loud about loving her. He never showed affection toward her or gave the impression that he was interested in her at all.

Overall, this wasn't an interesting love story and dammit, I'm disappointed.

THE PORTRAIT by Megan Chance

PUBLISHER: Dell, October 1995
SETTING: New York, October 1855
HEROINE: Imogene Carter
HERO: Jonas Whitaker
VIRGIN HEROINE? No
GRADE: A

FROM PUBLISHER: The reigning master of the New York art world, Jonas Whitaker was brilliant and compelling, a man of dark passions and uncontrollable emotions. Terrified of his own dangerous nature and scarred by the horror of his emptiness — until Imogene Carter pushed her way into his life.

He discounted her on sight, seeing her as a colorless, fragile woman with no spirit and less talent. He could send her running with a word — and he intended to do just that. But Imogene was not so easily frightened. She came to Jonas to learn from a master, and learn she would — everything he could teach her. She wanted his artist’s secrets and his brilliant passion. She wanted to be swept up in his seductive, forbidden world.

Until she saw the terrible price he paid for his talent.
And realized it was impossible to catch a shooting star without being burned…

MY THOUGHTS:

Jonas: He has long dark hair and green eyes. I don’t think his age was given. He’s manic-depressive (bipolar). He lost his right hand due to a suicide attempt four years previous. He’s attempted suicide several times. After he lost his hand, he was admitted to an insane asylum and was there for four months. He’s also bisexual. He’s also estranged from his family.

Imogene: She’s twenty-six, short with light brown hair and brown eyes. She’s been living in her older sister, Chloe’s, shadow her entire life. Her sister died a few years previous from cholera. She was a gifted artist but Imogene could never live up to her, in their father’s eyes. Imogene was secretly in love with Chloe’s boyfriend, Nicholas, and even had sex with him at some point after Chloe’s death. But that’s all Nicholas wanted her for.

Frederic ‘Rico’ Childs: He’s got long blond hair and blue eyes. He’s Jonas’s best friend and fellow artist. They smoke opium together sometimes and, I believe, have sex with each other. Rico is the only one who truly cares about Jonas.

I love this story. This is the second time I’ve read it and I love it more now than I did the first time. I sent my book to the author to be autographed after reading it the first time. I’ve never read about someone like Jonas before in a romance book. What an original story this was and how great that the author even thought of creating a hero like Jonas. In no way, shape or form is he your cookie cutter hero.

I wasn’t impressed with the heroine at all. She was pretty basic and too passive. And the way she let her father talk to her? I don’t know why she let him get away with it. She could have told her father off, let him know what she really thought of him, but she never did. Twenty-six is too old to be talked to like that from a parent, someone who’s supposed to love you, no matter what.

This book has been a favorite of mine since I first read it around 2007. I sent my paperback copy to the author to autograph in late 2007. Here's an image of the page she signed.

A RECKLESS ENCOUNTER by Rosemary Rogers

PUBLISHER: Mira, 12/2001
GENRE: Historical Romance
SETTING: England, 1819
TIMESPAN: about 4-5 months
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: Celia St. Remy Sinclair has harbored a dark obsession since the tender age of twelve: to bring about the downfall of Lord Northington, the man responsible for her mother's death. Now an elegant and self-possessed beauty of twenty-two, she leaves America for London, determined to avenge the act of violence that shattered her life.

Celia is stunned when she comes face-to-face with her nemesis -- for this rakishly charming gentleman called Colter is not what she expected. When she discovers he is the new Lord Northington, son of the man she's vowed to destroy, she embarks upon a daring plot to take revenge on the father through the son. But even the best-laid plans can be thwarted by the powerful forces of the human heart...

MY THOUGHTS: This reminded me a lot of an older historical romance for a few reasons. Celia hated Colter because of what his father did to her mother. Colter knew nothing about his father's past sins and didn't know or care why she was so hostel towards him. She was kidnapped towards the end by the villain, which happens a whole lot in older historicals. For a lot of the book Celia hated Colter but he wasn't deterred by it and he never let it stop him from trying to bed her. So there was a love/hate relationship between them for awhile, which is very common amongst older historicals. There was a nine year age gap between them and I liked that too. I hate when the hero is just a couple of years older than the heroine, which is very common with newer romances.

I liked Celia. She's a green-eyed blond. She's a bit of a spitfire when it comes to Colter and I really like heroines to be like that. I rarely find one like that in newer historicals, which is a shame. She was born in Virginia to a French-born mother and was living in Georgetown, D.C. when she left for England to get revenge on Colter's father, who is a rapist and murderer. She stayed with her aunt Jacqueline, who is also her Godmother.

I liked Colter a whole lot too. He's thirty-one, has dark hair and blue eyes though the stepback (the page directly behind the front cover of a book showing hero and heroine) has him with blond hair. His dialogue towards her when she's being bitchy to him made me smile constantly. Unfortunately there wasn't any background information given on him.

There was also some drama involving something Celia unknowingly had in her possession, stuffed inside a directory that a ship passenger, James Carlisle, let her borrow, that she was unaware people were after. I got confused along the way with that whole mess. It's still unclear to me about what happened with the item and who has it now.

I enjoyed the friction between Celia and Colter and I did feel their attraction for each other. They make a good pair.

SALLY'S BAKING ADDICTION: Irresistible Cookies, Cupcakes, and Desserts for Your Sweet-Tooth Fix by Sally McKenney

PUBLISHER: Race Point Publishing, 3/2014
GENRE: Cookbooks/Baking
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: A-

FROM PUBLISHER: Named by Huffington Post as one of the "Top 10 Food Blogs to Watch" in 2013, Sally's Baking Addiction has skyrocketed in popularity since its inception in late 2011. Baking addict and food blogger, Sally McKenney loves to bake. Her famous Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies won Nestle's Dark Chocolate contest in 2013, and now, in her first cookbook, Sally shares her baking secrets with fans everywhere.

Try her No-Bake Peanut Butter Banana Pie, her delectable Dark Chocolate Butterscotch Cupcakes, or her yummy Marshmallow Swirl S'mores Fudge. Featuring a brand new selection of desserts and treats, the Sally's Baking Addiction Cookbook is fully illustrated and offers 75 scrumptious recipes for indulging your sweet tooth--including a chapter of healthier dessert options for those who follow a vegan or gluten-free lifestyle. With dozens of simple, easy-to-follow recipes, you get all of the sweet with none of the fuss!

THINGS I'VE BAKED

DARK CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CAKE

This isn't moist at all. It's dense and very dry. This went into the trash can after eating just one piece. I made half the recipe in an 8" square pan and it baked in 18 minutes. The toothpick came out with moist crumbs on it so I know the dryness wasn't due to overbaking. The full recipe only has three tablespoons of milk in it. I followed the recipe and I'm convinced the lack of milk in the recipe is what ruined it. The frosting is good but that's the only positive thing about this. I made half the frosting and used just 2 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, which was about three tablespoons less than called for, and less milk. Anymore and it would have been too bitter for my liking.

PEANUT BUTTER CHUNK OATMEAL BARS

These are pretty good. They use chunky peanut butter, old fashioned oats, mini semisweet chocolate chips, milk, and a few other things. No egg. They're not too sweet. They're made in an 8" square pan. I cut mine into six bars, not twelve. I didn't make the chocolate peanut butter drizzle for the top. I think I'd like these better with creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy because the peanuts fall out when you take a piece off with the fork.

FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES

I wish you knew how good these are. I added about 3/4 teaspoon of lemon extract to the dough because I'm obsessed with lemon sugar cookies. I didn't make frosting for these but rolled the dough balls in granulated sugar instead. I got 25 dough balls using a 1 1/2" diameter/1 tablespoon scoop. I chilled the dough an hour, stirring once halfway, which is how long it took for the dough to be firm enough to scoop out without the dough sticking to the scoop.

These are excellent with lemon added. I baked the first batch for 10 1/2 minutes and the next batch for 11 minutes because the first batch wasn't crunchy enough. The dough spread out nicely and produced a cookie that's got some thickness to it. They're crunchy on the outside and chewy, not cakey, on the inside. The bottoms are a deep golden color. I have nothing bad to say about these. This alone is truly worth the price of the book. You could roll the dough in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar too.

When I baked the last six, for some reason they didn't spread out as much as the two other batches though they were baked on the same temperature, in the same oven, and the dough sat at room temperature for fifteen minutes like before. Go figure!

OATMEAL SCOTCHIES

Theses cookies taste very good but mine didn't spread out much, only by about 1/2"-3/4". I used mini semisweet chocolate chips in place of butterscotch and I omitted the cinnamon. I made just half the recipe and got 27 dough balls using a 1 1/2" diameter/1 tablespoon scoop. They baked in 10 minutes. To the rest of the dough, I warmed it slightly in the microwave and spread each dough ball out slightly with my fingers on the cookie sheet. They baked up nicely that way and looked normal. They need more salt.

CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Excellent recipe. I didn't press down on the cookies with the tines of a fork to make the criss cross pattern before baking. The recipe uses salted butter and no added salt. I used unsalted butter and added 1/4 teaspoon of salt but they needed a bit more. I didn't add peanuts either. The cookies are very sweet. I got 31 dough balls using a 1 1/2" diameter/1 tablespoon scoop. I had to chill the dough for 2 1/2 hours before it was firm enough to use the scoop.

With the first batch I flattened the dough balls slightly because I was scared they wouldn't spread out. I baked them for ten minutes. They spread out too much for my liking. I wanted the second batch crunchier so I baked for eleven minutes and I didn't flatten them at all. The cookies were crunchy on the outside and chewy inside and they looked great.

BROWN SUGAR MARBLE POUND CAKE

This is very, very moist. It's made with vegetable oil and equal parts sugar and brown sugar. It tastes a bit off and I can't taste the chocolate much. I made my own chocolate frosting for it. I made half the recipe in a 1 qt. loaf pan. It baked in 53 minutes. I also doubled the salt to 1/4 teaspoon but it's not enough. I also used less vanilla extract. I wouldn't make this again. It looks good but doesn't taste so great.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

These muffins are made with vegetable oil, yogurt, and cocoa powder and require no mixer, just a large bowl and spoon. I made half the recipe and got nine standard size muffins using a 1/4 c. measuring cup to measure out the batter for each. I used muffin liners and the muffins didn't stick to them at all when I peeled them off.

I didn't bake these at a very high temperature for five minutes then lower the temperature like I was supposed to do. I just baked them on 350 degrees F for 18 minutes. They're very moist and not too sweet. I did add vanilla extract though the recipe called for none. I used mini semisweet chocolate chips. These needed a pinch more salt. I love the way they look, with the cracks on top and I would definitely make these again.

MY THOUGHS: This is a very nice hardcover book that has a photo of every recipe but not always one of the finished product, with the oatmeal scotchies being an example of that. At the time of this review I've made seven recipes. All but two of them turned out good. The sugar cookies and peanut butter cookies are truly great recipes with the sugar cookies being the most versatile since you can add anything to the dough- nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, ect. There's a great variety of flavors too, like peanut butter, apple, chocolate, caramel.

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