THE SOLDIER by Grace Burrowes

Publisher: Sourcebooks, 6/2011
Setting: England  
Hero: Devlin St. Just 
Heroine: Emmaline Farnum 
Rating: D/2 stars

SYNOPSIS: Devlin St. Just has tried everything to escape his demons. But his responsibilities are multiplying and his despair deepening, until beautiful, enigmatic neighbor Emmaline Farnum steps in...

Devlin's torn spirit calls to Emmaline, but even as she gives in to his irresistible caresses and her own growing desires, she's keeping a devastating secret...

Protecting Emmaline becomes Devlin's urgent mission, if only he can overcome the forces that are driving them irretrievably apart...

MY THOUGHTS: I didn't enjoy this story from the start. Hero and heroine met way too soon and acted too familiar with each other, as if they'd known each other for years. We didn't get to know them at all beforehand. Both were very likeable and there was chemistry between them from the beginning.

What I didn't like most of all was the character, Winnie. She's a small child, cousin to Emmaline, and is related to Devlin by marriage somehow. She's introduced just a few pages in and dominates the entire storyline. There's hardly a page she's not on in some way, either speaking herself or hero and heroine are speaking about her. I feel her dialogue is much more mature than a real five or six year old would ever speak. She sounds just like an adult most of the time. I also had trouble believing that a grown man of thirty-one would allow a child he's just met, who already has a home, move in with him the night they meet.

The rest of the novel is bland and uninteresting to me. If Winnie hadn't dominated the story, I might have liked it, but who can say? I won't be trying this author again.

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

MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION by Anna Campbell

Publishing Info: Avon, April 2011
Setting: England 1827
Heroine: Antonia Smith, 27
Hero: Nicholas Challoner, 31
Timespan: 8 months
Grade/Rating: D

SYNOPSIS: London's most notorious seducer, Nicholas Challoner lives solely for revenge . . .

The dashing, licentious Marquess of Ranelaw can never forgive Godfrey Demarest for ruining his sister—now the time has come to repay the villain in the same coin. But one formidably intriguing impediment stands in the way of Nicholas's vengeance: Miss Antonia Smith, companion to his foe's unsuspecting daughter.

Having herself been deceived and disgraced by a rogue—banished by her privileged family as a result and forced to live a lie—Antonia vows to protect her charge from the same cruel fate. She recognizes Ranelaw for the shameless blackguard he is and will devote every ounce of her intelligence and resolve to thwarting him.

Yet Antonia has always had a fatal weakness for rakes . . .

MY THOUGHTS: I didn't care for this novel at all. I thought it was very silly and pointless. I didn't really care for either the hero or heroine. The hero wanting to 'ruin' someone the heroine was looking after was lame and not much was done with that element. From my point of view, the very thin storyline was really just the hero and heroine having a sexual relationship with each other from very early on. There were a few hot sex scenes but I pretty much skimmed them because I couldn't make myself become interested in it. From very early on I could see the story was going nowhere so I had to do a little bit of skimming. Bottom line: skip this one. It was so bad and I'm actually angry at the time I wasted on it.

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

REAP THE SAVAGE WIND by Ellen Tanner Marsh

PUBLISHER: Ace, 1982/Berkley, 1984
SETTING: 1764 Scotland, England, America
HEROINE: Merewyn MacAilis
HERO: Ian Montague
TIMESPAN: within 6 months
BODICE RIPPER? Yes
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: From the safety of her family castle to brutal degradation at the hands of a vicious enemy, the beautiful, headstrong Meiewyn MacAilis suffers agony and torment as she strives to restore her family's fortune.

But run as she might from despair and danger, there is no escaping Ian Montague. Like a fragile flower, she trembles in his hungry embrace... her own wild passion igniting as the urgent demands of his desire claim and conquer her... as the power o their love consumes them both.

SPOILER SUMMARY: The heroine is seventeen, has blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin and has Nordic ancestery. The hero has long dark hair and gray eyes. I don't think his age was given because I never read it.Hero and heroine meet early on in Scotland. She travels to his home to confront him about something and it turns ugly. Ian actually tries to strangle her with one hand while he's gripping her hair with the other. She flees and later is falsely accused of thievery and prostitution by someone whom we later find out is named William Rawlings, who's twenty-seven. She's shipped off to America and is to become an indentured servant but doesn't in the end.

Ian somehow finds out she's been kidnapped and rescues her. They continue to be combative toward each other. Not a whole lot goes on from here on out except a couple of interesting things that help the story along.

William is in a room at an inn with a prostitute, whom he murders while in the room with her. He dumps her body into the river.

Merewyn is out with someone (Ian?) and they run into Ian's jealous old flame, Elizabeth Comerford. She's got brown hair and pale green eyes. She's with William, the man who had Merewyn arrested but he doesn't recognize Merewyn at all. Merewyn recognizes him right away. He later becomes a bit obsessed with her, especially when she won't tell him her name. Elizabeth tells him who Merewyn really is, that she was  kidnapped and is being looked for but he still doesn't know she's the one he had arrested. Elizabeth comes up with a plan. She wants Ian, who is now engaged to Merewyn, and William wants Merewyn. So they send her a note telling her they know who she is and William wants to meet with her. Merewyn is terrified that William will recognize her and tell everyone that she was in jail for prostitution and is desperate to flee London, where they are now.

Ian and Merewyn marry and Ian finds a note that she was to send William. Ian mistakenly believes they're having an affair and abandons her and travels somewhere. Merewyn is out riding one night and William followes her. He plans to murder her. She'd previously threatened to tell the police that he had her falsely imprisoned for prostitution. William is terrified that if she brings his name up to the police that they'll somehow connect him to the murdered prostitute. And they later do.

Merewyn sees him chasing after her on horseback so she takes off on her horse and ends up at an abandonded home. She runs inside and tries to hid from William. He's chasing after her in the dark and shoots her in the arm. He ends up falling through the floor and dies when he lands. Her brothers show up just then and take her back home to Ian, but he's not here. They later reconsile and live happily-ever-after.

MY THOUGHTS: I've had this book a little over 1 1/2 years and finally read it. I enjoyed it but not as much as I'd hoped. My favorite part was when William and Elizabeth came up with their plan to ruin Merewyn. William never ended up with her, as planned and Elizabeth never got to be with Ian again.

This novel and Ian definitely fit the criteria for a bodice ripper. Ian is very angry and abusive. Not only did he try to choke Merewyn when they first met but is always threatening to do her harm. He once threatened to box her ears and another time asked her if she was trying to provoke him into murdering her! Say what?! A couple of times he ripped her gown off and even once told an acquaintance that he planned to 'beat her into submission.' Ain't he a keeper?

Merewyn is your typical fiesty heroine, never afraid to mouth off to the hero when necessary. She held her own against him. She was treated badly by him and somehow came to love him in the process. Their love came out of nowhere and wasn't at all believable. But that's OK with me.

It was believed that William murdered the prostitute in Scotland, Nellie Arling, but we never learned of how the authorities discovered that. I guess it's to be assumed he was seen entering the room with her or was seen dumping her dead body.

PIRATE'S PASSIONATE SLAVE by Robin Gideon

Publisher: Zebra, 7/1991
Setting: Carribean, 1817
Time span: A few months
Hero: Lord Derek Leiceter York
Heroine: Lauren Masters
Bodice Ripper? Not really
Grade/Rating: B-/3.5 stars

SYNOPSIS:  Lauren Masters was both terrified and furious when a gang of white-slave traders seized her ship. The Virginia vixen swore to fight the cruel rake who carried her off to his cabin...until she saw that Derek York was no ordinary privateer. In his silk shirt and elegant waistcoat, York claimed to be an aristocrat on a secret mission. But when he shed his expensive attire, he became a golden pirate whose muscled masculinity and exquisite loving completely enslaved her senses. Now Lauren had to decide whether her virile captor meant to protect her... or seduce-then sell-her tempting flesh!

Lord Derek, heir apparent to the House of York, had infiltrated this gang of pirates for one reason-to find and rescue his abducted sister. He wasn't in the flesh peddling business, yet when he saw the beautiful ebony-haired Lauren, Derek was consumed by a desire to possess her. At first he imprisoned her in his cabin for her own protection, but soon he was making her his willing slave, roaming her luscious curves and plundering her silken flesh. And when she finally begged him to take her to the frothy peaks of rapture, he knew she'd be forever his...PIRATE'S PASSIONATE SLAVE

MY THOUGHTS: The heroine, Lauren, who's got black hair and brown eyes, in on a ship in the Caribbean, on her way to settle some family business stuff for her parents, who are in Virginia, USA. The ship she's on, Miss Malaki, is taken over by another ship, The Unholy One. The hero, Derek, is captain. He's not really a pirate but is pretending to be one so that he can find his sister, who was abducted a month before when her ship was attacked by pirates.

Derek forces Lauren to stay in his cabin, to keep her away from all the crew members. She hates him instantly but he's attracted to her. He ties her hands together to keep her from struggling and, I believe, rapes her. He repeatedly tells her that he's not going to rape her and that he's there to protect her all the while attempting to have sex with her when she, clearly, doesn't want him to. She stops fighting him and gives in though, still clearly, not wanting it. From the next day and until the end of the story, they have consentual sex all the time.

I didn't care for this novel at all. I'd waited four months to read it and was so disappointed. From the time the hero and heroine meet at the beginning, the entire story is about the two of them trying to find his abducted sister, Amanda. Lots of drama ensues and Lauren gets abducted too. With just a couple of pages left, Derek and Lauren's family find her and they all live happily ever after.

Boring as hell. I don't recommend this and I'm not sure if I'd read another one by this author.

Eight Days in Darkness: The True Story of the Abduction, Rape, and Rescue of Anita Wooldridge by Angela Roegner and Anita Wooldridge

Pub. Date: April 2010 
Publisher: Synergy
Genre: NonFiction/true crime
Rating: C/3 Stars

SYNOPSIS: On June 25, 1998, Anita Wooldridge (21) was taken from her parents' home in broad daylight by a convicted rapist. For eight terrifying days, Anita was savagely beaten and raped by her captor, (Victor Thomas Steel) who locked her in a metal storage cabinet for hours at a time. With only a steadfast faith in God to comfort her, Anita refused to give up hope that she would be found. Eight Days in Darkness chronicles the shocking events of Anita's kidnapping, including her transport across state lines, and the impressive efforts of local authorities and FBI agents which led to her rescue and the dramatic capture and conviction of her abductor. Anita's story is still used today as a case study for prospective FBI agents, and Eight Days in Darkness paints a portrait of the real-life battle between good and evil.

MY THOUGHTS: I was really bored by this book. I didn't find it particularly interesting. Every page was the same as the one before it. I'm very disappointed that the author didn't explore the childhood of the rapist, Victor 'Tom' Steel. Any well written true crime/biography/autobiography/memoir will have a through account of the perpetrators upbringing. We learned nothing much about Tom's childhood, except that his father was abusive and that he has two siblings.

Tom had previously been imprisoned for ten years for raping another woman, long before he met Anita. But that couldn't have been his first taste of crime. Most sex criminals have a history of voyeurism, stalking, obscene phone calls, something but we never learned of any because the author didn't explore his past enough or interview him.

His mother was quite a character. I wanted to know more about her but was told nothing at all. What a disappointment. I found her to be the most interesting person in the book.

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

LOVE'S AVENGING HEART by Patricia Matthews

PUBLISHER: Pinnacle, 1976

SETTINGS: Virginia, July 1717
TIMELINE: 3-4 years
HEROINE: Hannah McCambridge, 16
HERO: Michael Verner, 22-ish
BODICE RIPPER? Yes
GRADE: B/4 stars

SYNOPSIS: Love's dream...
Hannah wondered if her daydreams and nightly fantasies would ever come true. A captive, near-slave to Silas Quint, her brutal stepfather, she lived in squalor, suffering the indignities of poverty and shame. She knew only that she must escape, that must come first. Then to find the man and the lover who'd fulfill her dreams.

Hannah's sordid life with Quint was soon replaced by long hours toiling as an innkeeper's bar maiden -- literally sold into servitude by her stepfather! It was but the beginning of a wild and tumultuous new phase of life that would test Hannah's very soul. Her fiery red hair, voluptuous body, and impudently beautiful face would attract men -- men of wealth, men of nothing but strength and lust -- and she would have to learn to survive amidst their passions and furies.

After all, she was only a wench, a body to be owned, used or bartered. But Hannah would do more than survive, she would win. She would overcome the sadistic beatings, the rapes, the treachery, the crushing humiliation of her circumstances. She would discover the all-consuming raptures of passion when love came to free her questing heart.

MY THOUGHTS: Hannah goes through hell during the first part of the book. Her stepfather leads her, with a rope around her neck, to an inn called The Cup and Horn. He's forcing her to become an indentured servant for the next five years, until she's twenty-one. The man who buys her is the owner of the inn, Amos Stritch. He's fifty, fat and bald. Amos bought her to 'warm his bed' and because she was a virgin. She's to work at the inn too. He rapes her and beats her several times.

She meets a sixty-three year old Englishman named Malcolm Verner. He's owner of a plantation called Malvern, which is assume the word is a combination of his first and last name. He's wealthy because he grows tobacco. He's got a young son, Michael, whom he assumes is dead. He buys Hannah's indenture papers from Silas and gives them to her; he frees her but she chooses to say at Malvern and continue on as his housekeeper. Malcolm asks her to marry him and she agrees. She's now seventeen.

The rest of the book is a bit boring to me. There is some interesting information about Hannah being octoroon, meaning she's 1/8 African. Her father is 1/4 African. There's some blackmail toward her involving that. Malcome dies and his dead son reappears. He and Hannah begin a sexual relationship, resulting in a pregnancy. She flees to Boston and opens up an inn and had a lover. The plague strikes and kills thousands. Michael finds her and they, and their daughter, Michele, move back to Virginia and they get their happily-ever-after.

I didn't like that Michael was only 22 ish or the secret mission he was on to kill the pirate known as Blackbeard. I also didn't like the plague stuff either. The book wasn't quite as good as I was hoping but it was alright.

There's a sequel to this and is about both Hannah and her adult daughter, Dancer of Dreams.

ONLY WITH YOUR LOVE by Lisa Kleypas

PUBLISHER: Avon, October 1992
BODICE RIPPER? Yes, mild
MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: The newlywed bride of a Creole aristocrat, Celia Vallerand prays for deliverance from the bloodthirsty brigands who abducted her from a New Orleans-bound schooner. Though she believes her beloved husband slain and despairs for her own life, the shy French beauty fears above all the dashing privateer who pays a king's ransom to claim her ... and boldly risks capture to possess her.

The most notorious pirate of the open seas, he is called "the Griffin"--a rugged and powerful renegade who arouses within Celia desires as dangerous as they are irresistible. But the magnificent adventurer is a man trapped in a perilous deception--and he guards a shocking secret that could deny him the love of the gossamer-haired enchantress who stirs his manly passions and enslaves his heart.

MY THOUGHTS: This takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States in 1817 ten years after the previous book in the series. The heroine, Celia, is twenty-four. She has blond hair and brown eyes. The hero is Justin Vallerand and he has dark hair and blue eyes and is twenty-five. His identical twin brother, Philippe, is her husband.
 
Sadly, I only liked the first quarter of the book, which was the first 100 pages. So many things, so much action, took place during the beginning that I felt like there was nothing left for the rest of the story. Once Celia moved in with her in-laws the book became very boring to me.
 
Her in-laws were the hero and heroine of the previous book, Only In Your Arms, which was rewritten as When Strangers Marry. Starting when Celia moved in with them, they were featured throughout the entire novel. I don't think that was fair to the readers. They had their own book and ended up with another one. I didn't care for it.
 
Justin wasn't as alpha as I'd have expected him to be, judging by his personality in the previous book. There was a 'forced seduction' scene with Celia early on but other than that I don't think his personality was all that bad. I'd have preferred for him to have been more aggressive in nature. Celia was a bit feisty and was a good match for him. Truth be told, I didn't care too much for either of them.
 
I thought there was too much hanging out at the plantation, since that's where most of the novel took place. I found it mostly boring and some things, like when someone was impersonating another, to be a bit silly and unoriginal. I consider this to be a very mild bodice ripper.

LORDS OF PASSION by Virginia Henley, Kate Pearce, Maggie Robinson (Anthology)

PUBLISHER: Brava, 12/2010
GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance Anthology
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: This dazzling new historical collection delivers a trio of heroes who are bold, dashing, and unforgettable in every way. . .

Beauty and the Brute by Virginia Henley

It's been three years since Lady Sarah Caversham set eyes on arrogant Charles Lennox--the husband her father chose for her to settle a gambling debt. Now Charles has returned, unaware that the innocent ingénue he wed is determined to turn their marriage of convenience into a blissfully passionate affair. . .

MY THOUGHTS: Story takes place in England in 1719. I'm not sure about the timespan. The heroine is Sarah, sixteen, blond and blue eyed. The hero is Charles, twenty-one, dark haired and brown eyed. They are forced to marry three years before, at the ages of thirteen and eighteen, and have been estranged for three years. Charles returns after being gone and is instantly attracted to his wife, who, apparently, looks much different than she did when last he saw her.

I didn't care for this story at all. I was bored the whole time. Charles and Sarah got along pretty well. I didn't feel much attraction on Sarah's part. She wants to get revenge on her husband for being rude to her when they first met by getting him to fall in love with her. When he does, she then tells him she wants to be a wife in name only, like before. They're estranged for a short while then get back together. Boring! The heroes sister, Anne, is featured throughout and ends up getting married. I couldn't have cared less about her. This is a short story and should have been about hero and heroine only. I wouldn't be interested in reading more about this couple or any of the secondary characters if they ever got their own books in the future. 

I grade this story a C/3 stars.

How to Seduce a Wife by Kate Pearce

Louisa March's new husband, Nicholas, is a perfect gentleman in bed--much to her disappointment. She longs for the kind of fevered passion found in her beloved romance novels. But when she dares him to seduce her properly, she discovers that Nicholas is more than ready to meet her challenge, over and over again. . .

MY THOUGHTS: This was my favorite of the three stories and was the most sexually graphic. It too was the shortest story. It takes place in England in 1816. It ties in to her Simply series. Unfortunately because it was so short it never really could get going. The couples ages weren't given but Nicholas is six years older than his wife. The hero and heroine aren't that compatable sexually. The hero, Nicholas March, sets out to seduce his wife, Louisa. They end up at the House of Pleasure, as featured in the Simply series, and reenact an abduction scene from a romance novel the heroine had been reading. The sex is very explicit and it loved it.  

I grade this story an A/5 stars.

Not Quite a Courtesan by Maggie Robinson

Sensible bluestocking Prudence Thorn has been too busy keeping her cousin Sophy out of trouble to experience any adventures of her own. But when Sophy begs Prudence's help in saving her marriage, Pru encounters handsome, worldly Darius Shaw. And under Darius's skilled tutelage, Pru learns just how delightful a little scandal can be. . .

MY THOUGHTS: This story was pretty enjoyable and explicit. I liked the hero and heroine and thought they made a good pair. At the end, I didn't like that after knowing each other only four days they decided to marry in six months. 

I grade this an A-/4.75 stars.

A SENSE OF SIN by Elizabeth Essex

PUBLISHER: Brava, 4/2011
GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance
SETTING: England, 1794
SERIES: Darthmouth Brides, #2
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: He Could Be Her Ruin - After a shocking letter and then a mysterious warning about the dangers of unworthy men, Celia Burke is on edge. With her precarious position in society, the merest look could tear her reputation to tatters. And the roguish viscount pursuing her seems interested in far more than just a look...

She Could Be His Salvation - Rupert 'Del' Delacorte, Viscount Darling, believes the ravishing Miss Celia Burke played some part in his beloved sister's death. Looking for revenge, he swears he'll seduce and ruin her - without actually touching her. Yet to win Celia's trust and ignite her passions, Delacorte must open his hardened heart to her - and in the process, risk falling for the very woman he hoped to destroy...

MY THOUGHTS: The hero is Del, twenty-six. He's got blond hair and blue eyes. The heroine is twenty year old Celia, who has dark hair and brown eyes. She's studying botany secretly but her father knows about it. She went to school with Del's younger sister, Emily, until Emily's suicide a year and a before.

I liked the plot of the hero, Del, wanting to get revenge on the heroine, Celia for something he thinks she's done. What I don't like about it is him believing Celia has played a part in his sister's suicide when there's really no reason to believe that. Without giving too much away, there was a rumor going around that involved Celia and Emily. Celia and Del are both being blackmailed by the same person, they find out later.

I doesn't make sense to have Del wanting to get revenge on someone he claims to hate by seducing her. If you hate someone why would you, how could you, want to have sex with them?

When it's revealed who the blackmailer(s) is, I was real disappointed. I thought the author could have been a bit more creative with that. I had trouble understanding why Celia was considering paying off the blackmailer(s) when she hadn't done anything wrong.

I could feel Del's attraction for Celia but I couldn't detect any attraction from her for Del. There love wasn't believable to me at all. Their rushed marriage wasn't either. Their characters were underdeveloped, as were everyone's. We got a tiny bit of backstory for Del but nothing for Celia.

The ending was very, and I mean very abrupt. It came so quick I was left a bit stunned. I actually had to go back and read the previous page to see if I'd missed something. I thought I'd accidentally skipped a few pages. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in this novel. I liked the revenge plot but it seemed to turn into a non revenge plot as soon as the lead couple met. It was like the author changed her mind and decided to drop the revenge plot.

Comment about the cover. I really like her blue dress. I'm pretty sure though that the hero on the cover has dark hair when Del had blond.

I received this in exchange for an honest review.

THE VALCOURT HEIRESS by Catherine Coulter

PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam Sons, 10/2010
GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance
SETTING: England, 1278
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: D

FROM PUBLISHER: Twenty-four year old Lord Garron of Kersey is on his way home to succeed his late brother, Arthur, as the Earl of Wareham. But on arrival, Garron discovers his home, Wareham Castle, has been nearly destroyed by The Black Demon and his band of bad bad soldiers looking for Arthur's cache of silver coins which remain hidden. The handful of servants who've survived includes a young girl named Merry, supposedly the castle priest's bastard, who is as clever and enterprising as Garron.

Garron is told this Black Demon destroyed Wareham because no one would tell him where Arthur had hidden stolen silver coins. Equally puzzling is the too-smart bastard Merry -- as well bred, literate and brave as any man he's ever known. Indeed, she galvanizes his people to action before he can even ask her assistance. She's a natural leader and a skilled healer, but Merry has secrets of her own...secrets that could endanger Garron and his people. He knows she's hiding something, knows she could bring more bad things down on his head, but he likes her and her fast mind and her ready wit. But can he survive the truth?

MY THOUGHTS: The heroine is blue eyed, red haired, 18 year old Marianna 'Merry' de Lucede Mornay. The hero is Lord Garron of Kersey. He has black hair and blue eyes. The whole plot of this book is Garron trying to get his brothers silver coins back.

This book was terrible. There was some magic running throughout it that I didn't care for, as I'm not a fan of the paranormal. None of the characters were interesting. Merry's mother is a terrible person. Basically, she was trying to sell Merry to someone she didn't want to marry in exchange for the silver coins that were stolen. She needed the money to buy more things to create spells with. Toward the end there was some silly stuff involving a secret sibling thrown in. Pointless. I never saw any love between hero and heroine either.