Firelight by Kristen Callihan

Just finished Firelight by kristen callihan this past weekend. Loved it! The hero was a scarred hero with an interesting backstory and twist. The heroine also has an interesting backstory and twist.  There was a definite gothic feel to the story which made the atmosphere richer. I loved how Miranda (the heroine) was a strong character - no whimpering wilting little flower. I liked how the relationship took awhile to develop. The ending sort of took me by surprise but I liked how the story resolved itself. Can't wait for the next book by this author!

The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae by Stephanie Laurens

Rating:  5 stars

The only book I haven't read in this series is book 1. This book - the 3rd one - is so worth waiting for.
For those of you who may not have read this book or the two earlier books in this series - this is the basic storyline: Some mysterious Scottish Earl has been behind the kidnapping of two of Celia Cynster's daughters - Heather in book 1, and Eliza in book 2. At the end of book 2 they had reason to believe that the Earl was dead so everybody breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed the guarding of daughter #3 - Angelia Cynster (also the youngest of Celia's daughters). Angelica's sisters were all successfully rescued & obtained fiancees out of their ordeals. Over the course of the two books little hints are dropped about the mysterious Earl and what his motives are. He never did the actual kidnapping himself & instructed his accomplishes to take care of the kidnapped women. Once he realized each woman had found love - he backed off on his kidnap intentions of that woman and just looked to watch over the woman and her intended.
At the opening of book 3 Angelica (the youngest and what is believed to be the most headstrong, & resourceful sister) spots a dashing figure in the ballroom. Three guesses who it is that she spots.   :)  The Earl had just planned to do some reconnaissance - imagine his surprise when the object of his mission descends on him and aggressively pursues him, engineering a private tete a tete out in the garden.
This book was so good for so many reasons. The characters were fabulous, the passion - steamy, the plot - interesting. These kinds of stories are usually ruined in several typical ways:
1.) There is an adversarial, very antagonistic relationship between hero & heroine throughout 90% of the book
2.) The hero treats the heroine cruelly, the heroine acts like a ninny
3.) The hero & heroine learn to trust each other but then a twist late in the book upsets that trust on a colossal scale


How Laurens makes this story fab:

1.) The heroine is super attracted to the hero before the abduction and is the furthest thing from a passive, wimpering little heroine. She is a classic Cynster.
2.) The hero is super sexy and treats the heroine w/ the utmost respect at all times. He is also a clever man, and caring.
3.) All through the journey to the hero's home in Scotland, Angelica and Dominic (her hero Earl) work together and plan together. Dominic's staff are won over by Angelica and it makes for a nice atmosphere for the long trip.
4.) The story is littered with scenes of the Cynster family planning what to do about Angelica's disappearance (both the men & the women). Of course all the Cynster men come riding to help out at the end. Yea!

Murder Out Of Tune by Simon Shaw

Not Cassio kill'd! then murder's out of tune,

And sweet revenge grows harsh.

Othello, Act V, Scene II

 

Rating: 4.5

The hero/villain of this story is Philip Fletcher. He is a 44 yr old actor living in England circa 1988. This is not a "who done it". Philip is the murderer. The only surprises are who he kills, how many people he kills, and in what way he kills. There is a lot of dark humor. The first person he kills is kind of spur of the moment & out of anger. The second killing is premeditated and out of revenge. Of the last two - one is accidental. The last one would be accidental, however the person survives and by then Philip is majorly pissed so it becomes a premeditated killing. Over the course of the book, Philip has a little transformation. It makes me think of all those stories about women having an "awakening". Philip has an awakening as well - just with some new criminal tendencies.

In spite of Philip's arrogance and almost sociopathic tendencies, he has his Macbeth moments - waking up in a sweat, panic attack, & nightmares because of what he's doing. I like one moment in the book - after the 1st killing he is interviewing for a part and he runs into another actor competing for the same role. He kind of has an omg moment:

Now, Tom de Vere had told him that the final selection had been between Dick and himself, so it occurred to him in a blinding flash of paranoia that what he had considered doing to Dick, Dick could very well do to him. If something happened to him, Dick would still be the automatic replacement. Philip wondered if Dick realized that the final selection had been so close. He was quite renowned for his aggressive temper; undeniably he had some violence in him. Perhaps, thought Philip, he ought to take pre-emptive action and murder him anyway. Then again, he might be mistaken, in which case it would be a bit rough on Dick, as well as risky for himself. He'd just have to take care and not lean invitingly out of any four story windows, such as the one he found himself staring out of now.

This might be awful to read if not for the wonderful writing by Shaw and the fine line he walks between dark humor and "ick". The character of Hannah (Philip's sometime girlfriend) reminds me of Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous.

All in all, great 1st book of a series. The last time I read these books was about 17 or so years ago. I wanted to see if I liked them as much now as I did then. So far, so good. 

Touch Me by Sahara Kelly

This was a really good short story. The heroine is a writer who has had a bad romantic history. She has opened up a New Age store. One day Sean Rafferty rolls up to her shop on his motorcycle. Curvy Eden is exactly his type so he asks her out and they end up dating. Both characters are very likable and the only thing that could have made this sweet, sexy story better would have been if it was a full length book instead of just a short story.

A Kind Of Magic by Susan Sizemore

Rating: 4.5 stars

The book starts out in present day w/ the heroine. She works as an engineer, & is not a delicate little woman. Her mother is matchmaking to set her up with the guy she's had a crush on for forever. Long story short - after putting on a necklace from an archaeological site, she is transported to the year 1210 in the Highlands. Rowan Murray is the spitting image of the guy the heroine has pined for. The White Lady tells him that in order to save his clan he has to marry the first woman he sees on the road home. This turns out to be Maddie (our heroine). I've read a lot of these time traveling/highlander books. This is what I liked about this book:

* Susan Sizemore's writing
* The hero believes in magic even though he doesn't like it - so he can easily accept that Maddie came from some distant future land
* Even though the hero tries to put some emotional space between the two of them, he has moments where he expresses his true feelings, thus making him more than a angry, gruff Highlander
* The heroine's engineering background is made use of
* Nice secondary love story
* I love how natural & real Susan Sizemore's heroines sound

Wicked Lord by Eliza Lloyd

Rating: ★★★★
This is book 3 of a series. This is the 1st book that I've read by this author. I think it would have been helpful if I would have read the other books in this series first.
The book starts out w/ the hero & heroine just newly married and in a carriage on the way to the wedding breakfast. This is a much different carriage ride then the one between St. Vincent and Evie (from Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas). St. Vincent & Evie were entering into something that benefited both of them. In this story by Lloyd, the heroine (Helene) believes herself to be in love with somebody else - therefore resenting her father's forced betrothal and subsequent marriage to our hero (Edward Chase, Lord Redding). Lord Redding wants marriage to try and restore respectability to his family name. He has had a very naughty, very scandalous past. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Helene is a stunner who he drools over and fantasizes about. Helene is an artist who eventually finds herself in lust w/ the wicked Lord Redding, but has trouble reconciling that attraction w/ lately being in love w/ somebody else as well as her natural dislike of Redding's personality. The story becomes how they slowly fall for each other. Thrown into the mix is the ex-fiance showing up, as well as Redding's former mistress and mother of his deceased child. Since this is a book published by Ellora's Cave, there is a healthy amount of sex. However, I think that there is a well done story here, as well as complex characters. I also think that the sex fits the situations and the characters - it's not just thrown in at odd times. After reading this, I am interested in reading book 2.

Sir Philip Ashton's Eyes by Sahara Kelly

Rating: ★★★★★

I wish this would have been a full length book rather than a short story because it was very enjoyable. This is the first thing I've read by this author and it made me look for other things by her. It was a little like a Victoria Alexander or Julia Quinn thing but w/ more sex. :) The heroine keeps rejecting marriage proposals - both because she hasn't felt love yet, and because of her past family situations. The hero is a sweety - a scientist who normally does his experiments in the country. They meet at one of his talks on mesmerism. Very cute.