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.

Christmas In Lucky Harbor by Jill Shalvis

I typically don’t read contemporary romances. I usually just read paranormal or historical romance. Jill Shalvis is an exception.

There are so many great things about these Lucky Harbor stories. The characters are very complex and three dimensional. With each book, the relationships become more layered. They are a nice blend of tear-jerking moments, funny moments, & sexy moments. After reading book 1 in this series you really start to care about the characters.  In the first Lucky Harbor story, the relationship between the sisters is very tense and awkward at times – which is exactly what you would expect of sisters who are basically strangers trying to work together for the first time. By the second book, you see the sisters trying and really putting forth an effort to not only work together & get along. You also see how they change each other and see them grow. In addition to the family relationships, the romantic relationships in these books are very diverse and wonderful. Shalvis does a wonderful job of having natural sounding dialogue and creating great chemistry. I look forward to more books in this series!

Seducing An Angel by Mary Balogh

Rating: 5 stars

After reading this book I couldn't believe I waited this long to read it. I loved the book that came before this, and I ended up really liking this one as well. I feel like the author has grown so much since her early books - so much that you can't really compare a book from years and years ago to one of her current books.

The basic story: For anybody who hasn't read about them - The Huxtables are one of those close knit families. The parents are both dead and the oldest daughter - Margaret acted as a kind of mother. They lived in the country for years until the "Earl of Merton" title was passed to the youngest Huxtable - Stephen.

At the time of this story, all of Stephen's sisters are married. He's a fair-haired, well-liked, mellow, friendly young man about town. The heroine is a widow. It is rumored that her husband died a nasty death at her hand. The reality is that she was married young to a man who got violent when he drank. The whole "Who done it?" is plaed throughout the book. She is rapidly running out of funds and she supports her former governess, her maid & the maid's young daughter, & a dog who is blind in one eye. She sets about looking for a wealthy protector and winds up finding Stephen Huxtable. She sets about "seducing an angel". It's interesting because, even though she's a good soul deep down, for obvious reasons....she pursues Stephen in the same predatory way that most rakes in these historical romances usually do. Once she attracts him she is very honest about what she wants and expects (a quality that I really like about my fav Balogh characters). Stephen helps her throughout the book - looking better in the eyes of society, repairing the relationship w/ her brother, encouraging her to try to reclaim her widow's settlement. Cassandra is a strong heroine & I like how complex the characters are. I like that after only being intimate (in secret, thus protecting her reputation such as it is) twice, Stephen helps her without having a sexual relationship - he just wants to help her because he cares about her and he thinks it's the right thing to do - one human being for another.

There is a lot of drama in this book, but a lot of fun & light moments as well.

Tender Rebel by Johanna Lindsey

I really liked Tender Rebel. The heroine had some very dopey ideas and acted very pissy at times but to be fair, she did have people after her, and she did own it later in the book by admitting she had been acting like a bitch. The hero was totally great and made this book for me. I liked how he reacted to how difficult the heroine was being. Some heroes in other books might not have taken that kind of treatment by the heroine as well and been really nasty or done some stupid stuff in retaliation.