Review: Kept by Jami Alden (Gemini Men #2)

Publisher - Kensington Books
Publication Date - 1st March 2009
Paperback - 369 pages
Genre -  Romantic Suspense

Source - Purchased

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it.

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - Ethan and Derek Taggart: they're the men of Gemini, and when it comes to sheet-scorching undercover work, nobody does it better. The only one they answer to is big brother Danny - that is, until the right women come along to grab the reins and crack the whip as hard as the Taggart men like it...

Security is Derek Taggart's game, and he plays it straight - no margin for error, no time to fool around... except with one hot little number who changes everything. He takes her home when she needs a ride - one she'll never forget. The problem is Derek can't forget her, a total about-face for a guy who keeps his enemies closer than his lovers. Then he finds out the sexy dynamo is Alyssa Miles, notorious party girl and darling of the gossip rags. It's time to walk away and never look back, which would be a hell of a lot easier if his agency didn't desperately need the high-profile gig her family's offering: a minor detail that consists mainly of Derek watching Alyssa 24/7. Keeping an eagle eye on every inch of Alyssa's nubile body isn't exactly a hardship - the problem is keeping his hands off and his brain on when things go dangerously wrong...

My Thoughts - After reading, and loving, the first book in the Gemini Men series I have become completely hooked on this series and I have fallen more than a little bit in love with the Taggart brothers. These books are very sexy - definitely the hottest romantic suspense books I have come across so far - and as soon as I pick one up it is very difficult for me to put it back down again.

Derek is an ex-military man who runs a security agengy with his twin brother Ethan and older brother Danny. He is a typical alpha male who feels the need to protect those around him but he doesn't like to get too close to anybody. He is very emotionally shut off and, although I did find him very sexy, this did make it a bit difficult for me to really get attached to him as a character. He has fallen for Alyssa but in an effort to keep her at arms length he is cruel to her at times. There is one particular scene that made for very uncomfortable reading, although I won't go into too many details as I don't want to give too much away.

I really liked Alyssa. She has had some troubles in the past - a stint in rehab for a drug problem, a horrible ex-boyfriend who put naked pictures of her on the internet - but she is trying her hardest to put that behind her a build a successful career for herself in her father's jewellery business. Even though everybody thinks of her as a famous-for-nothing, airhead celebrity, it soon becomes obvious that this isn't true and she is really trying to change her image. I think the thing I loved most about her is that even though she has been hurt a lot in the past, mainly by people wanting to cash in on her fame, she is still very trusting and willing to see the best in people. Although this is probably what has got her hurt in the past I loved the vulnerability this aspect of her personality brings out in her.

The mystery aspect of the storyline is fast-paced and kept me hooked on the edge of my seat. Although the reader finds out quite early on who is wanting to hurt Alyssa, the author manages to throw in a big twist at the end, and I loved the surprise of this turn of events.

Summary - Although I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first in the series (mainly because of some of the more unlikeable aspects of the hero's personality) I still loved it and once I started it I really couldn't put it down. I had to start reading book three straight away as I just could not wait to find out what else is in store for the Taggart brothers.

Other books in this series:
1. Caught
2. Kept
3. Unleashed

Other reviews of this book:
The Good, The Bad and The Unread / The Romance Reader

Waiting on Wednesday: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week my "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough - especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily - just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

Review: Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #4)

Publisher - Allison and Busby
Publication Date - 23rd February 2009
Paperback - 352 pages
Genre -  Young Adult / Urban Fantasy

Source - Purchased

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in relative peace. Student Claire Danvers has never been convinced, though, especially with the arrival of Mr. Bishop, an ancient, old-school vampire who cares nothing about harmony. What he wants from the town's living and its dead is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball, attended by vampires and their human dates, that Claire realizes the elaborately evil trap he's set for Morganville.

My Thoughts - In Feast of Fools we are introduced to three new vampire characters – Bishop, Ysandre and Francois. They are definitely not friendly and they take pleasure is using humans in their games and think nothing of killing them or using their powers to force humans to do things against their will. Ysandre, a very sexy female vampire, takes a liking to Shane and this does create some tension between him and Claire. These new vampires are a great addition to the story. They are bad to the bone and, unlike the other vampires in the series who seem to have both a good and a bad side, you just know there will be trouble whenever they are around.

Previous books in the series have been non-stop action from start to finish, however, this one moves at a slightly slower pace. The book begins with some action when Bishop and his two sidekicks arrive at the Glass House, but then the story slows down in the lead up to the welcome feast. Although, what this story lacks in action it certainly makes up for it with suspense. The feelings of tension and fear leading up to the feast just jump off the page at you as you’re reading. I do have to say though that I found it slightly unbelievable that the residents of Morganville can be so aware of what is going on around them with regards to what the vampires are getting up to, whilst non-residents (e.g. students at the University) seem to be so oblivious to these events. I just don’t see how such a divide can exist between the humans in Morganville.

Once again everybody is so beautifully characterised that by now I feel as if I really know Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael. And, whether they are humans or vampires, the characters all have such complex personalities and this is one of my favourite things about this series. I have really enjoyed getting to know each and every person in Morganville (although Myrnin still creeps me out A LOT!).

Summary - Although this isn’t my favourite story in the series so far, Feast of Fools is still definitely worth a read and I can’t wait to read Lord of Misrule. I’m very interested in seeing exactly what Bishop has got up his sleeve for the residents of Morganville.

Other books in this series:
1. Glass Houses
2. Dead Girl's Dance
3. Midnight Alley
4. Feast of Fools
5. Lord of Misrule
6. Carpe Corpus
7. Fade Out
8. Kiss of Death
9. Ghost Town
10. Bite Club
11. Last Breath
12. Black Dawn

Other reviews of this book:
Bookish Novelties / Gimme The Scoop Reviews / Love Vampires

Review: A Night Like This by Julia Quinn (Smythe-Smith Quartet #2)

Publisher - Piatkus
Publication Date - 29th May 2012
Paperback - 384 pages
Genre -  Historical Romance

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 5 out of 5: It was amazing!

Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - Anne Wynter's job as governess to three highborn young ladies can be a challenge - in a single week she finds herself hiding in a closet full of tubas, playing an evil queen in a play and tending to the wounds of the oh-so-dashing Earl of Winstead. After years of dodging unwanted advances, he's the first man who has truly tempted her, and it's getting harder and harder to remind herself that a governess has no business flirting with a nobleman.

Daniel Smythe-Smith might be in mortal danger, but that's not going to stop the young earl from falling in love. And when he spies a mysterious woman at his family's annual musicale, he vows to pursue her. But Daniel has an enemy, one who has vowed to see him dead. And when Anne is thrown into peril, he will stop at nothing to ensure their happy ending...

My Thoughts - A while ago, I put out a call for help from my fellow bloggers. My problem was that I'd just read my first historical romance (which I'd loved!) and I wanted recommendations from other fans of the genre as to what to read next. Julia Quinn's name appeared several times in amongst all the recommendations, so when A Night Like This popped through my door, I was very excited. And now that I've read this book I can see why the author's name was mentioned to me so many times.

This has got to be one of the sweetest and funniest romances I've come across. Daniel and Anne make such a cute couple. Anne is intelligent and funny, but at the same time has had her fair share of bad luck in the past. As a result of this she is now very wary of people around her and has lost a lot of the naivety that can be seen in heroines in this genre. Daniel has just arrived back in the country after a death threat towards him has seen him go into hiding for three years. He is a very charming man and as soon as he sees Anne he persues her with a single-minded determination. I loved this about him - he's not a man who is ashamed of how he feels or has a need to hide his emotions.

When Anne and Daniel are together on the page the chemistry between them sizzles. However, when they are around Daniel's nieces (the girls that Anne is a governess to) they have to tone it all down and the affection they feel for each other comes out in some light-hearted teasing. Some of my favourite moments from the book are these moments when Anne and Daniel are with the girls - there were more than a few times when I was laughing out loud at their antics.

There is a fair amount of danger and intrigue thrown into the mix in the form of the man who previously threatened Daniel's life, as well as a mysterious man from Anne's past. Although I did find this part of the plot to be somewhat predictable, I still loved the extra element of suspense that this added to the story.

Summary - An absolutely adorable romance that will have people rushing out to get more books from this author. In fact, the second I finished this book I downloaded Just Like Heaven (the first book in the series) onto my Kindle and I just can't wait to enter again the beautiful world created by Julia Quinn.

Other books in this series:
1. Just Like Heaven
2. A Night Like This

Other reviews of this book:
Book Pushers / Heroes and Heartbreakers / Medieval Bookworm

Review: New Girl by Paige Harbison

Publisher - Mira Ink
Publication Date - 4th May 2012
Paperback - 320 pages
Genre - Young Adult

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it.

Reviewed by - Ally

Book Info - A contemporary young-adult retelling inspired by the classic 1938 romantic suspense bestseller Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

They call me 'New Girl'...

Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.

Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.
Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend…but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.

And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back.

My Thoughts - Go into a library enough and you’ll eventually get caught on a shelf in a book that sends your brain the thought that this time, the book is going to... Swallow me whole!

That’s how I felt with this book. Becca’s lost, gone, missing and the “new girl” suddenly shows up trying to be her. Becca came into their lives and changed it; go to people, the guys they were pining for, parties and fun! She was their saviour and when she disappeared they built her into this deity or goddess. They never saw her for what she truly was, half of them didn’t even know her but either way they took it out on “New girl”.

This book is a re-telling and when reviewing a re-telling, its well... really hard especially as I haven’t read the book this book is a re-tell of.

This book was funny, how many people do you know that would tell someone to “shut up, you’re turning an ugly shade of red.” This book, well Becca, at some points other than being a “pathological liar” was Creepy. It creeped me out how manipulative she was and you could really tell she was screwed up, knew she was screwed up and could do nothing to stop it. Her family had given up on her and she was lost.

This book covers the topic of rape, it wasn’t a full out lecture or even a lecture but you get to see the devastating affects and two different takes on it. New girl is cool; everything Becca wanted and the dream like state where she meets Becca and Becca explains the truth were scary and so well written. That’s what this book was: well written, it swallows you whole, takes you in, makes you believe and when it spits you back out you want to go back in and stay there. Against your better judgement, against the devastating news of Becca.

New girl ends up catching the eye of Becca’s ex and is instantly warned against it but she can’t help it. Neither can Max they like each other and that’s that, no matter how hard they try not to. Dana the best friend is tormented by Becca’s disappearance and knows secrets, lots of secrets, that she kept and in the end do come out.

Things you should know (thanks to Kimba88 who said she liked the list)
1. Becca is psychotic.
2. I don’t think, or remember ever getting to know “new girls's" name.
3. This book is creepy; sweet fluffy love story it is not.
4. Max is a prick; a hot stud muffin (yes I said stud muffin) prick, but a prick none the less.
5. I want to go to this school!

Summary - This book really shows the torment and suffering one girl’s disappearance can cause especially a girl like Becca’s. Whether this book is an accurate depiction or retelling I don’t know but I will say that this book was beautifully written and I would recommend it for older teenagers and adults alike.

Other reviews of this book:
I Want to Read That / Serendipity Reviews / Writing from the Tub