The Month That Was February 2014

Me:  Um, wow.

Lemon Drop:  I will have you know Auntie Wendy that I picked out this stylish outfit all by myself.

Me:  Well, yeah.  Obviously.

Lemon Drop:  Of course it's obvious!  Mommy is, like, hopeless when it comes to fashion.

Me:  Well you certainly look....colorful?  Yeah, let's go with colorful.

Lemon Drop:  Let's get this show on the road, Mommy and I gots shopping to do!

Me:   Well, yeah.  Obviously.

Title links will take you to full reviews.

Portrait of a Scandal by Annie Burrows - Historical romance, Harlequin Historical, 2014, Grade = C+

• Slow beginning, dynamite middle, tacked on conflict that annoyed at the end.  Loved the Paris setting, loved the business-woman heroine.  Also, hero is fourth son of earl, which is something a little different from the usual proliferation of dukes.

Confessions of a Secret Admirer by Jennifer Ryan, Candis Terry and Jennifer Seasons - Contemporary romance anthology, Avon Impulse, 2014, Grade = D+

• You know how some readers complain about the proliferation of small-town contemporaries?  Um, yeah.  Ryan story = series-itis and it's a prequel novella!  Terry = nice enough but if you're a female character who isn't a heroine watch out!  Seasons = Cute story but a hero who talks like no guy, anywhere.....ever.  Unless he's your 85-year-old grandfather.

Tempts Me by Megan Hart - Part 1 of erotic romance serial, St. Martin's, digital only, 2014, Grade = B

• Sets up the serial, introduces the main characters and like all Hart stories - you get hooked by the characters.

The Initiation of Ms. Holly by K.D. Grace - Erotic romance, Sourcebooks, 2014, Grade = C

• Sex, sex, sex and more sex.  A thin plot, but enough to keep the whole thing going.  What wasn't there?  Character development.  What are these people thinking?  What are they feeling?  Why are they making the choices they are?

His Best Friend's Baby by Molly O'Keefe - Contemporary romance, Harlequin SuperRomance, 2006, Grade = B-

• My TBR Challenge read of the month.  I did think the romance got lost at times with all the delicious angst flying around and that knocked my grade down a bit.  But dang, O'Keefe writes emotion and angst and desire and longing and.....well, everything.....so well.  I inhaled this.

Flashes of Me by Cynthia Sax - Erotic romance novella, Avon Impulse, digital only, 2014, Grade = F

• Telling me the heroine is smart doesn't make her smart.  A bag of rocks has more going for it.  Also, lumpy writing.  Nothing I liked here.

Resists Me by Megan Hart - Part 2 of erotic romance serial, St. Martin's, digital only, 2014, Grade = B

• What I loved about this second installment was how confident the heroine was.  Love her!  Hart is slowly peeling the layers back on her characters and I'm hooked.

The Fall of a Saint by Christine Merrill - Historical romance, Harlequin Historical, 2014, Grade = C

• God bless Merrill, I read her books because I never know what crazy-sauce she's going to throw into the recipe.  This one asks the question - did the hero, in fact, rape the heroine?  I'm still not sure.

More Than She Expected by Karen Templeton - Contemporary romance, Harlequin Special Edition, 2014, Grade = B

• What I love about Templeton's books is how she gives us all this wonderful romance that features "normal" people.  Younger hero starts helping out his newly signal, pregnant, and slightly older than him next-door-neighbor.  

Lemon Drop:  I look fly, I look good....

Me:  Really, Chamillionaire?  

Lemon Drop: Chuck Taylor's killing, Adidas still grooving.....

Me: I just can't even.