His Little Black Book by Heather MacAllister

Frustratingly bland short stories

3 stars

This is a collection of three short stories all based around one wrong text message sent by the boss of an advertising agency and the consequences of the text.

Text and the Single Girl

Junior copywriter Sophie Callahan is determined to move on up the corporate ladder so when she gets a text to attend a private party with the creative director of the ad agency she sees it as her great chance. But when she gets to the beach house she finds the party only consists of client Adrian Dean – what will they do to pass time when a hurricane strikes?

Neither Sophie or Adrian were particularly likeable characters – Sophie because she was too grasping and Adrian because he felt too weak. With that the story fell flat and I didn’t believe that the pair would ever have a happy ever after.

Text Appeal

On her way to the beach house party, Mia Weiss skids off the road in the hurricane only to be rescued by hottie, Kevin Powell. Mia has always been smart in love but Kevin makes her want to throw all her resolutions out the window and just wait out the storm in his bed.

This was a fair enough story but it wasn’t particularly exciting and it was obvious that Kevin and Mia’s attraction was purely physical for the vast majority of the story which is not great when you’re reading a romance.

Safe Text

Being assistant to a demanding boss is running Cammy ragged especially since she’s infatuated with him. But Gil, Cammy’s former partner has the perfect cure in mind and it involved changing her mind about the right man for her while the storm rages outside.

While being the best of the three stories, this one was let down as Cammy had given up three years of her life and a promising career due to her ‘love’ of her boss. Gil deserved a better woman.

For all the stories I didn’t like the fact that all the women were so hung up on or obsessed with Jonathon – the boss of the agency and the man who sent the original text. I know that without that fact the stories wouldn’t make sense but who can root for women who are so pathetic and delusional? Unfortunately this anthology is only worth 3 stars and even then I think I’m being quite generous.

How To Marry A Duke by Vicky Dreilling

Mixed bag romance

3 stars

Tristan, the Duke of Shelbourne is looking for a wife but all he finds are silly, simpering girls. So in order to make the best choice, he hires London’s respectable and proper matchmaker, Tessa Mansfield.

Tessa is determined to find a love match for the duke even if his criteria are a little more practical. So she invites 24 of the ton’s most beautiful women to compete in a scandalous competition for his hand. But then she breaks a matchmaker’s number one rule by falling in love with the groom.

This is Vicky Dreiling’s debut novel and overall it was a fairly enjoyable read. However it really didn’t present anything new or different from other romance books and I’m not sure I’ll actually remember much about it in a couple of weeks.

Tessa was an enjoyable character – independent and strong without being a cliché. Unfortunately all the other female characters were insipid dimwits that I couldn’t take to at all. I also liked Tristan – your typical rakish duke brought down by love but if I’m honest the pair had little chemistry and not enough heat or emotion to give you that ‘butterflies in your stomach’ feeling that you want when reading romance.

The story was a little disjointed and didn’t always flow. Towards the middle I wondered whether anything exciting was actually going to happen and the ending was so drawn out that I could have screamed! I felt that all the characters were ridiculously proper on occasion – probably correct to the time period but a little dull none the less. And the hugely devastating secret of Tessa’s turned out to be fairly tepid compared to other books I’ve read which was a little anticlimactic.

I actually enjoyed reading this book and it was never a chore to pick it up. It wasn’t overly exciting but if you’ve got it on your bookshelf then it’s worth a read. 3 stars.

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win A Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean

Enjoyable romance and good end to the series

4 stars

Juliana Fiori may be the sister to a powerful Marquess but that doesn’t mean she’s a simpering English miss. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth as trouble and scandal seem to follow her wherever she goes and the ton delights in making her the subject of their gossip.

Simon Pearson, the Duke of Leighton doesn’t have room in his perfect, ordered life for scandal of any kind. He is too focussed on his reputation, title and keeping his secrets well hidden. But Juliana presents a temptation that he can’t quite resist and when she promises to show him passion – he might just find he’s not as above love as he first thought.

This is the third and final book in MacLean’s Love By Numbers trilogy and one that I’ve been very much looking forward to. I don’t suppose it needs to be read in order but I think you would understand more of the back story (and be aware of Juliana and Simon’s history) if you’ve read the first two books – Nine Rules to Break When Romancing A Rake and Ten Ways To Be Adored When Landing A Lord.

From the first page I was hooked by this book. I loved Simon and Juliana from MacLean’s first two books and couldn’t wait for them to get their own story. Juliana was the feisty Italian that I came to expect and Simon was even more of the disdainful, arrogant duke than he first appeared.

The story kept me interested and I couldn’t put the book down. Until about the middle. Then, for some reason, I became a little disenchanted. Simon and Juliana seemed to be on a neverending cycle of her doing something scandalous, him being disdainful and neither of them ever bending, learning or changing. It picked up again towards the end and I liked the ending although, if I’m honest, I didn’t feel that I ever got to completely understand the characters, their love or their motivations.

I’ve still given this book 4 stars because I’ll admit that since I was so looking forward to this book it probably could never have lived up to my expectations. Add to that the fact that it could never beat the exceptional Nine Rules to Break… and I’ve probably given worse books more stars.

Overall I still really liked this book and would recommend it to someone who enjoys a good ol’ Regency romance. It’s well written, engaging and I’m sure you will enjoy it. I’ll also eagerly be waiting for MacLean’s next book and the start of The Fallen Angel’s series, A Rogue By Any Other Name.

Second Time Lucky by Debbi Rawlins

Readable but ultimately forgettable romance

3 stars

Hot shot lawyer, Mia Butterfield, has decided to pack in her high flying career to open her own business. But before she settles down to the hard work and lack of money, she and her friends are going to have one final spring break in gorgeous Hawaii.

Mia’s boss, David Pearson, is determined to get Mia back so he can land a lucrative account. So he follows her to Hawaii – quite a departure for a workaholic like him. But is he really going to win Mia back for the firm, or for himself?

I liked the premise of this story and it was executed fairly well. However…the story wasn’t thrilling and really lacked any real sparkle or magic.

I liked both David and Mia but their relationship was a little bit strange. It felt as though the author couldn’t quite decide what the power dynamic between the couple was supposed to be. This made David especially seem at times quite weak and at other times a real alpha male – it was quite odd. There was the usual heat for a Blaze romance but nothing that gave me goosebumps.

And the twist – you could have seen it coming a mile away but when it actually arrived it was a little pointless and unbelievable.

Overall this was a good enough book to read on a rainy afternoon. It wasn’t overly exciting and it, if I’m honest, was a little forgettable but not wholly bad. I suspect that Mia’s two friends Shelby and Lindsay will have their own stories soon making this the first in a trilogy of stories.

Caught on Camera by Meg Maguire

Enjoyable wilderness romance

4 stars

Survival television star Dominic Tyler (Ty) and his assistant, Kate Somersby are in the middle of filming their series finale – a week long trip surviving in the wilds of Canada – when a freak accident and storm forces them to take shelter in a remote cabin. The accident forces Ty to take some drastic action – Kate will no longer be working with him on future series.

Kate is stunned by the betrayal of her best friend but when Ty tries to take her mind off her problems then she can’t resist helping to stay warm the good old fashioned way!

I wasn’t sure if I would like this story being that it’s a bit more outdoorsy than I generally like to be! But I was hooked from almost the first page and found I couldn’t put it down. Kate and Ty were likeable characters and fit brilliantly together both as friends and then as lovers. There was a lot of heat within the book despite it being set in snowy Canada and I really liked the pair’s interactions.

I know we’re supposed to suspend belief in these kind of stories but I did have a little issue with the pair going at it outside in the forest in the middle of a snowstorm! Maybe I’m being overly cautious but I would assume that at the temperatures they would have been facing things might have fallen off which is probably not very sexy!

I’ll admit to always being a little worried when either the hero or heroine aren’t American in these kinds of books because their “accents” more often than not are clichéd and cringe-worthy. In this book Ty was Australian but I’m pleased to say his lingo wasn’t overly embarrassing or stereotypical.

I really enjoyed this book and it kept me entertained from beginning to end. It’s not the best or most romantic story ever but for something to keep you occupied for a couple of hours then you can’t go wrong. 4 stars.

Bad Boys Next Exit by Shannon McKenna, Donna Kauffman & E.C. Sheedy

What a waste…

2 stars

MELTDOWN by Shannon McKenna

Jane Duvall is a great headhunter and she’s determined to snag her next client even if it means stealing him away from hotel CEO, Michael “Mac” Mcnamara. Mac plans to find out what Jane’s really up to even if that means he has to seduce it out of her.

This story started of well but pretty soon turned into absolute trash. Mac was such a bully that it was uncomfortable to read. I like an alpha male as much as the next girl but Mac’s treatment of Jane was emotionally abusive and I was horrified that anyone would class this as romance. Dreadful.

EXPOSED by Donna Kauffman

All Delilah Hudson wants is to get home for Christmas – too bad she’s stranded on a train in the middle of a blizzard. As soon as photographer, Austin Morgan, spies Delilah he’s interested in capturing her in more than just a shot. Perhaps they can heat up the holidays together.

This was a fairly bland story with characters I didn’t empathise with, identify with or particularly care for. The sex within five minutes of meeting each other seemed seedy rather than sexy and the thought of a stranger taking naked pictures of me gave me the creeps rather than turned me on!

PURE GINGER by E.C. Sheedy

Ginger Cameron is fed up with being judged solely on her looks. So she decides to change her look to something a little more dowdy. Cal Beaumann needs to hire Ginger to do PR work but he doesn’t believe that this girl is as straight laced as she appears. So he sets out to uncover her secrets one by one.

Easily the best story of this anthology, I still couldn’t identify much with Ginger. It was all a bit ridiculous and the silly conflict at the end of the story was a bit high school for my tastes. Still the best but still not so great.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years waiting to be read. I’m actually beginning to wish I’d left it there to gather dust because I really didn’t enjoy it. I’ve previously read other books in the ‘Bad Boys’ series and by these authors and enjoyed them so this book was a little bit of a waste. There are much (much) better romantic anthologies out there and I would recommend you give this one a miss and try one of them. 2 stars and the extra star is only for E.C. Sheedy’s tale which wasn’t too bad.

A Little Bit Sinful by Adrienne Basso

Engaging but unremarkable

3 stars

Eleanor Collins knows that it will be her sweet and beautiful younger sister that takes the ton by storm. So when confirmed rake Sebastian Dodd, Viscount Benton, starts to pay Eleanor attention rather than her prettier sister, she’s a little taken aback.

Sebastian’s plans for revenge include the seduction of Eleanor – a task that he’s not reluctant to take on. But as he becomes consumed with Eleanor and the passion that surrounds them he begins to wonder whether he’s got his priorities right or whether love is more important than revenge.

This is a stand alone book but it appears that it is linked in with many other of Adrienne Basso’s books. I would imagine that Sebastian appeared in the book that featured his best friend which is the one before this one (How to Seduce a Sinner). I haven’t read that book and although this one seemed to stand alone I think I would have had a better grip on the characters, especially the secondary characters, if I had read the previous one first.

The book itself was a good read. I was interested and at no time did I get bored or not want to continue with the story. Both Eleanor and Sebastian were likeable characters and I liked their story and interactions. However, neither they nor the story were particularly memorable and they also didn’t have much depth which left the whole story seriously lacking in emotion. This really made it difficult to invest in the characters and I didn’t fall in love with them or really believe that they fell in love with each other.

This book did hold my interest so it’s a little disappointing that I feel I can only give it 3 stars. I’ll give Adrienne Basso another read because I liked her writing style but this book did little for me, I’m afraid.