Tangled Up In Love by Heidi Betts

Who knew knitting could be so sexy?
5 stars

Veronica Chasen and Dylan Stone are arch rivals. If they’re not engaged in a war of words, the pair of newspaper columnists from rival papers are challenging each other to dares like bungee jumping, getting tattoos or white water rafting. And now comes the biggest challenge of all – Ronnie dares Dylan to learn how to knit.

Who knew knitting could be so difficult? But Dylan isn’t about to be beaten by a bit of wool or by the infuriatingly sexy Ronnie. So he joins her knitting group and proceeds to charm all Ronnie’s friends. But when she agrees to private knitting lessons she realises she might have found herself getting a little bit tangled up with the one man she never expected.


This is the first novel I’ve read by Heidi Betts but if all her books are like this one then I’m definitely going to buy up her back list!

I love a couple who start off at odds with each other and throughout the course of the novel turn all that passion into love. Ronnie and Dylan definitely fit that bill. From page one I was hooked and rooting for them and it was delicious to watch the pair dance around each other on their journey towards a happily ever after.

The story itself is sexy, funny and really entertaining – this was the kind of book you didn’t want to put down and has characters that you’ll still be thinking about long after the book is done. It’s not heavy on the knitting so don’t worry if, like me, you’ve never knitted before. But after reading this book I definitely want to try my hand at it! There are two more books in this series and I cannot wait to read Jenna and Grace’s stories, Loves Me, Loves Me Knotand Knock Me for a Loop.

If you like fun and sexy romances with great characters then I’d really recommend this book to you. I really loved it from the first page to the last. 5 stars.

Make Me A Match by Diana Holquist

Weak and mediocre romance
3 stars

Cecelia Burns’ life is just the way she always dreamed it would be. She’s got a great job, a great apartment and she’s marrying the most stable, upstanding guy that she could dream of. Everything is going perfectly until her psychic sister crashes her engagement party and claims that she’s marrying the wrong guy and that the right guy, her one true love, is dying.

Finn Concord doesn’t believe in True Love but he is smitten with Cecelia Burns even if she does seem to think he’s dying. But with his lonely daughter, her rent-a-granny, psychics and enough other Finn Concords to make your mind boggle – winning Cecelia’s heart is going to take quite a lot of work.


It took me a while to get into this book and I suppose that should have been some indication of the story as a whole. It wasn’t hard to finish but I felt little to no emotional connection with the stories or the characters.

I wanted to like Cecelia but she was a little uptight and mean, especially to her sister. I know she was supposed to be like that and loosen up as the novel progressed but she was just very hard to like at times. I also didn’t think her reactions rang true and I wondered if Finn would be better off without her. Finn was a little more likeable as a rugged construction worker but I felt he wasn’t strong enough to handle Cecelia and he was obviously so hung up on his first wife that I didn’t think he was ready to move on.

The psychic stuff and the storyline overall was fine and handled well it was just that everything was too convenient and too bizarre to make it believable, even with the magic.

I finished this book and was rooting for the characters but in the end it just didn’t do much for me. A good read if it’s on your bookshelf but nothing I would run out and recommend. 3 stars.

This book is followed by Jasmine’s story in Sexiest Man Aliveand Amy’s story in Hungry for More.

Just The Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

Fabulous romance – adored it!
5 stars

Hot shot lawyer, Taylor Donovan, has recently transferred to LA to deal with a high profile sexual harassment case and she is determined to win. Her work is her life and she’s known to be cool, calm and collected both in the courtroom and out. But that changes when she’s told she has to teach an actor how to do her job.

Jason Andrews has just been voted the sexiest man alive and he’s always been able to make women fall at his feet. The fact that Taylor seems immune to his charms is quite disconcerting but he’s sure there’s a spark of something behind her sarcasm and he’s determined to prove that she might just be his perfect match.


This is the first book by Julie James I’ve read and I was hooked from the first page.

Taylor was a sassy and no-nonsense kind of girl but with a soft side that made her realistic and definitely not a stereotypical ball-busting lawyer.

Jason, the world famous movie star, started off as arrogant and spoiled but as the book and his relationship with Taylor progressed you saw his attitude shift to become a man you couldn’t help but want for yourself.

The pair had amazing chemistry and although there were no graphic sex scenes, there was more sexual tension and chemistry in this book an in many erotic novels I’ve read. The romance and the will-they, won’t they storyline gave me butterflies in my stomach and the conclusion had me sighing in romantic delight!

Overall, I adored this novel and more especially the relationship between Jason and Taylor. I will definitely be looking out for Julie James’ other novels and would recommend this to anyone who likes a fun, sweet and intelligent romance. 5 stars.

Dreams of Desire by Cheryl Holt

Standard and uninspiring romance
3 stars

Lily has had a succession of jobs as a chaperone but her job with the John Middleton, Earl of Penworth is set to be her most daunting yet. So daunting, in fact, that she’ll do anything to escape the imposing earl and his evil twin wards, including drinking a love potion to catch herself a husband who will steal her away.

But when she ends up drinking the potion while staring at John, she sets of a chain of events that can only end in ruin or happiness that will last a lifetime.


This is the final book in the Spinster’s Cure trilogy after Promise of Pleasure and Taste of Temptation but each stands completely alone so there’s no need to read them in order.

Lily, like most of Holt’s heroines, is described as an independent, spirited female and I was delighted to find she actually was written as such. She had spirit and wasn’t afraid to stand up to John – and not just as a token gesture. Sure he was authoritative and demanding and she sometimes was led by him but on the whole she was feistier than most. John was Holt’s usual alpha male and arrogant to boot but I liked his interactions with Lily and liked their story.

Unfortunately, Lily and John’s story took up so little of the actual page count that it was hard to really get behind them or into their story. Other stories included step-mother Esther and half brother Edward and their desire to lay claim to the Earldom. There was John’s fiancé, Violet and her secret love for Edward. Then there was John’s mother, Barbara’s return from the continent and her subsequent affair with Philip. And finally there were the pointless evil twins and first their desire to get rid of Lily and second their dominatrix and twisted sexual desires. I cared little for any of the supporting characters and felt they wasted time away from the main story.

There were, as always, the usual Americanisms, modern slang and talk and general research errors which not only galled but pull you away from the story.

I think I’m going to have to give Cheryl Holt a miss for a wee while from now on. This book was an improvement on the last of hers I read however I feel that they’re all getting a bit similar and I’m now looking for something a little bit more special when I spend my money on a romance novel. This book wasn’t terrible but if I’m honest, I feel that I can’t recommend it. 3 stars.

Taste of Temptation by Cheryl Holt

Formulaic and dull

2 stars

At 25 years old, Helen Hamilton is firmly on the shelf of spinsterhood. With the death of her notorious father, Helen is destitute and must care for her two sisters with little money and no prospects. When she tries for a position of a governess at Captain Tristan Odell’s home she is turned away.

Desperate, she ends up in a brothel selling herself as mistress to the highest bidder. It’s a shock to both when Tristan ends up taking her home. An illegitimate rake, Tristan is excited by the prospect of having Helen in his home. But will he offer her a position as governess or something more?

I am usually a fan of Cheryl Holt although I’ll admit that she does like to stick to her formula of rich, arrogant man and down-on-her-luck lady mixed with plenty of evil relatives thrown in to keep the couple apart. However, in this novel it seemed far too formulaic which resulted in a dull story that I struggled to get into.

I can’t really say much about Helen as a character that’s positive. She was supposed to be a strong survivor while she actually came across as weak and pathetic. Tristan was your usual arrogant hero but without much depth. His actions didn’t seem to match his words and he was too quick to jump from one extreme to the other with his emotions for them to be believable. I’d like to say the pair had chemistry but to be honest they had so little interaction in the book that you practically forgot they were even there.

The reason for the lack of interaction was the secondary characters who seemed to take up all the pages. There was the “romance” between the immature, randy earl who was hard to like and Jane, the teenager who clearly knew what she was doing in trying to trap herself an aristocrat. That we were supposed to root for these two was beyond me.

Overall, as I said, I realty struggled with this story. It’s the second in the Spinster’s Cure series (after Promise of Pleasureand before Dreams of Desire) and I’ll read the next book but really can’t recommend this one. 2 stars and even then I feel I’m being generous!

Wicked Little Game by Christine Wells

Deliciously intense romance
5 stars

For years the Marquis of Vane has hungered for Lady Sarah and watched her endure her disastrous marriage. When her wastrel husband offers him one night with Sarah in exchange for £10,000 his honour compels him to refuse while his heart wishes he could say yes.

When Sarah comes to him their passion overwhelms them both but the next morning desire has turned to shame. And then to horror as their mutual passion has set the stage for murder, betrayal and blackmail. Can the pair unravel the mysteries in order to claim the love of a lifetime?


This is the first book I’ve read by Christine Wells and I was gripped from the first page by the intensity and richness of the characters and the storyline.

Despite her seemingly cold nature, Sarah is a character well worth rooting for and one that you can really understand and like. And what’s not to like about Vane? A strong, sexy, brooding man who can’t help but love the woman of his dreams. Together the pair worked well even though the depth of their emotions often had them at odds with one another.

I intensely dislike any infidelity in my romances but in this book it was handled in such away that not only was it not tawdry but you also cheered for Vane and Sarah. And the pair had such guilt over what had occurred that it didn’t feel sordid at all.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It’s the kind of story that you can’t bear to put down and find yourself promising just one more chapter before you go to bed and waking up early just to read before you start the day. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a deep, interesting romance and personally I can’t wait to read more books by Christine Wells, even hopefully some for Vane’s brothers.

The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis

Captivating continuation of the series
5 stars

Southern belle, Tara, doesn’t particularly want to be back in the town of Lucky Harbour – there are too many bad memories there. But with her life crashing down around her, she’s decided to stay to help her sister’s with the inn they have inherited.

But now sexy blast from her past, Ford, is once again making Tara hot and bothered, despite her desire to start afresh. Add to that her ex-husband who has decided he wants Tara back and she’s got herself in a right pickle. So now it’s up to Tara to decide what she wants and perhaps she’ll find it in the last place she ever expected.


This is the second book in the Lucky Harbour trilogy (after Jax and Maddie’s book, Simply Irresistibleand before Sawyer and Chloe’s book, Head Over Heels). While I suppose you could probably read this book as a stand alone, I really think that you’d get a better grip on the characters and their previous interactions if you read the books in order.

Tara is the grumpy, bossy sister and although we know and understand why, I was worried that I wasn’t going to like her or root for her. That turned out not to be a problem as yes, Tara was bossy, but she was also self-deprecating and only ever wanted the best for people – I ended up really liking her. Not only that but Ford’s laid back nature really complemented Tara and it was a case of opposites attract. The pair had sizzling chemistry and although there was no huge conflict, peril or drama – I was really rooting for the pair.

The cast of supporting characters were really rich but never overpowered the main characters or love story. As well as Maddie, Jax, Chloe and Sawyer there’s the meddling townsfolk who aren’t nearly as overpowering or stereotypical as in other novels I’ve read. There’s also Tara’s ex-husband, Logan. He’s not a bad guy but clearly not the right guy for Tara but I loved his interactions/battles with Ford. Like another reviewer said, it would be nice if Logan gets his own story in the future. There’s also the adopted daughter storyline which was more sweet than heavy and added a little extra to Tara and Ford’s story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was part of a series that I’m really enjoying and I can’t wait until Chloe and Sawyer’s story comes out in December. If you like fun and sexy romances with characters you’ll love then I would recommend this book, and the rest of the Lucky Harbour series, to you. 5 stars.