3.5 stars for a predictable romance with a twist
933914
This is one of those books for which you can predict certain plot points and be entirely correct.

Former child star turned penniless college student Ellie needs money, so when a cabal of scorned college girls hires her to exact revenge on rock the headboard and leave 'em Julian, she agrees. Sure, she has a moment of conscience, especially once she sees - and meets - Julian. They connect in one of those "I need to know you" moments, conducted when Ellie looks like Ellie.

When she becomes Ellie the Hired Heartbreaker, her hair is dyed, colored contacts are put in, and her wardrobe is glammed up. And Julian doesn't initially respond to her, unlike his immediate interest when she's herself.

Perhaps what draws these two to each other is a mutual sense of brokenness. Julian suffered a horrific tragedy in his teen years, and Ellie is the product of a shady stage mother. Both have a sort of inherent sense of unworthiness, Julian because he feels that he failed at a vitally important act and Ellie because she doesn't know who she is if she isn't Ellie Barlow, child actress.

As Julian begins to fall for Ellie's alter ego, her pangs of guilt strengthen into full blown attacks. She has to decide if she will tell Julian the truth, which means foregoing the payment she desperately needs and putting herself at risk for a law suit, or if she will keep going along with the plan.

For all of its predictability, this book does hold some surprises. Julian's reasons for his emotion-free hookups are believable and valid, as are Ellie's fears regarding her life's choices. Theresa Weir writes the two of them with loving, dramatic strokes, making you like them and root for them.

And there is some delicious hot headboard rockin'. Let's just say that you easily can figure out why those girls want to get back at him, because if you had a taste of Julian's action, you'd wouldn't want to give it up, either.

There are some gaps and holes in the story, specifically where Ellie is concerned. Given that the audience for this book is college kids and those new to adulthood, I doubt most readers ponder what really went down with Ellie's mother and Ellie's career quite like I do.

It's a fun, quick read, with spice and romance. What it lacks in substance it makes up for in its undeniable appeal.

Published on VoxLibris.net
@VoxLibris
3477822
3.5

This story was an okay read. The Case for Seduction needed a little more seduction.  While Charlotte and Jake's story had chemistry, the story lacked the sensual tension that I've come to expect in my romance stories.

Backstory: Jakes literally runs into Charlotte and for him it is love at first sight or at least he thinks it is first sight.  Charlotte while attracted to Jake is too busy with working to put herself through law school to even think about starting a relationship with a playboy.  Jake sets out to prove to Charlotte he is a changed man.

There was not enough character and story development to make this story really sizzle.  Bits of details were brought to light regarding family members but were not connected by the end of the story.  As a result, I did not become invested in the characters but there was one exception: Mama Hamilton stole the show and was the highlight of the book along with Harry. They were funny and heart stealers respectively; they carried the story along and kept it light and interesting.  Harry with his monsters under the bed was adorable.  The last 20% of the book things heated up and kept me engaged.  I also wished this book had an epilogue.

The pace was good and the writing style was strong and that helped.  I've read other books by this author and loved them.  For me, this one missed the mark slightly.
3855761
There was romance and the unexpected but still a good romance with a twist.  Looking forward to next book, this was an easy read.
1152020
I think it is work 3.5 stars - a bit better than OK, but I felt it was rather predictable and some of the characters were 2 dimensional. The setting was well described, I could feel myself there. Worth a read, but did not sweep me off my feet.
2094825
Rating:  3.5 stars.  _Some mild graphic sexual content.  _Stand alone read.
Note:  2nd in Fortunes of Texas: Southern Invasion, multi-author series

EASY READ.  Well written, predictable storyline, heroine who knows herself, good supporting cast, strong family theme, and a rocky, yet sometimes, sweet romance about discovering the true nature of love.  HOWEVER, the hero comes across a bit too macho and arrogant at times, and there is not much plot.  A pleasant read, but nothing special.

THE STORY revolves around wealthy COO, Michael Fortune, as he pursues local confectioner, Felicity Thomas.  As the story opens, Michael, Mr.-I-don't-believe-in-love, Fortune come to small town, Red Rock, to convince his brothers and cousins to come back to Atlanta and resume their executive positions with JMF Financials.  There he meets, sweet, innocent, Felicity, and everyone's warnings to leave her alone, simply dares him to pursue her.  He does with flair and style, until he catches and marries her.  But both have a one-sided view of love and must learn that true love is more than either can imagine.

OVERALL, standard, sweet, predictable, romance.  FOURTUNES OF TEXAS:  SOUTHERN INVASION INCLUDES Her New year's Fortune, A Date with Fortune, A Small Fortune, Marry me, Mendoza!, Expecting Fortune's Heir, and A Change of Fortune.

You may also enjoy the complex characters and storytelling of N. Bruhns, A. Stuart, and E. Palfrey.  For sweet, funny, romances with great descriptive imagery and heart touching angst, try Susan Fox, Cara Colter, and Jennifer Greene.
4530589
REVIEWER'S OPINION:
3 stars for the story.  It was predictable.  At times I was tired of Morgan being timid and afraid, but on balance I enjoyed it.  I really liked the sex scenes which brought this up to 4 stars for me.  Two of them were very sensual.  I was moved by how gentle Nick was during sex with Morgan.  I was surprised at how turned on I felt.  I'm so used to alpha this and bdsm that, that this gentleness was a moving and pleasant change of pace.

The characters and plot are simple.  Don't expect unique and different.  The main story is an abused woman slowly healed by a man who heals abused horses.  They learn about each other and fall in love.  It worked for me.  The story is shorter than most romance novels - about 2/3 the length.

Minor annoyance due to the publisher:  Morgan has mahogany hair down to her knees which was talked about enough to make it important.  The cover picture has blond hair.

STORY BRIEF:
Morgan was married for six years to an abusive husband.  She was a virgin when she married.  He began beating her on their wedding night.  She has never known pleasant sex.  As a result of the beatings, she lives with leg pain and scars on her face.  Her husband was recently killed in an auto accident.  Morgan moves to rural Montana to heal.  She paints pictures which she mails to her cousin who owns an art gallery.

Nick was in jail for six years.  After his release, he inherited some money from his grandfather which he used to purchase and create his horse training business in Montana.  He provides a pleasant environment for abused horses to live out the rest of their lives.  For a living Nick trains and heals horses.

Morgan moves into the cottage near Nick's ranch.  As their paths cross Nick sees how frightened she is of any interaction.  She is drawn to him, but fears men too much to allow it.  Nick is patient and treats her as gently as he treats his abused horses.  She slowly gets over some of her fears.

DATA:
Story length: 252 pages.  Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words.  Sexual language: strong.  Number of sex scenes: 6.  Total number of sex scene pages: 39.  Setting: current day Montana.  Copyright: 2009.  Genre: erotic contemporary romance.
4740204
3.5 Stars

A quick engaging romance, with opposites attract.  Had a bit of sport, romance and angst, I will look forward to reading the next title in the series.
3533009
3.75 stars

I enjoyed the story for what it was but found it hard to feel a real connection to the characters. Overall a good romance - typical office romance in many ways but then with a twist when the heroine decides to run!

Safe read - no cheating, no OW or OM drama.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
2417687
3.5 stars overall!!!

My favorite thing about this book was the creative twist on the well-known Cinderella fairytale. 16-year old Cinder, the cyborg heroine, had a lot of spunk. I liked that she had a non-traditional profession as a mechanic. Her step-mother, Adri and her older step-sister, Pearl were annoyingly vile. Cinder only had Iko, her personable robot side-kick and younger step-sister, Peony for true companionship.

Prince Kai seemed fairly down to earth and really concerned for the people of the commonwealth. I would have liked for Cinder and Prince Kai to have spent way more time together in this first book. They only had the very beginnings of a young adult romance in the making before fate stepped in and crapped on their reality. Lunar Queen Levana was a real nasty piece of work. It was hard not to hope for someone to successfully assassinate her.

Cinder does end on a cliff hanger so I was glad to have Scarlet on hand. The doctor was my favorite character, so Im looking forward to more scenes with him.
3656578
Henrietta Cynster gains a reputation as the Matchbreaker since she uses her investigation skills to determine whether parties are right for each other.  However, she soon finds herself in a position where she breaks up one match too many.  After breaking up the match of her brother's friend, James Glossup, she feels obligated to find him a match that will allow him to satisfy his obligations.  Luckily she knows just the match.  Meanwhile, Henrietta and James begin to wonder whether a string of unfortunate events is bad luck or something more sinister.

This was a cute read.  The first half of the book centers around the romance and the second-half focuses on a mystery.  I wasn't expecting this format but it turned out to be something that I quite liked.  I expected the premise concerning Jame's would-be match to stretch out for the entire novel.  Luckily, the characters see what the reader can see pretty easily and we move on.  We get the benefit of the romance without all the conflict.  The mystery was just so-so but it worked.

I found this to be a pretty solid read.  IF you have high expectations for your hot-and-heavy scenes then this one might bug you.  The sexual scenes are quite corny and it was more enjoyable to skip.  Overall, this is a good comfort read.
538670
I enjoyed this quick, steamy and fun book, but it was pretty predictable.
3567122
I love a good second chance romance and I enjoyed Deal Me In. It was an easy read with a solid orderly hero and a heroine who was a bit more whimsical and trying to figure things out.

The quick of it is that Grace and Jeff have some past history that left them, well, not totally infatuated with each other. And now that he's come back home to live and work, well, they're having to deal with each other. And not totally loving that either...at first.

I enjoyed these two and their differences in personality. The romance was more them being prickly around each other then finally dealing with their past as teenagers when they messed up and changed everything between them--there's a good chunk of flash back to then. There's little on page steam but that was okay, really. I did like seeing them having to deal with each other and get through the past while working on a town event. There was actually a lot of time with the in their own lives with family/friends/work/etc. Some of that kept me from totally loving the book and just felt like random filler.

Overall, Deal Me In wasn't a bad read but it also didn't totally wow me or leave me scrambling to add the rest of the series to my TBR pile. The writing was simple and not entirely pulled together or tight but it moved along and kept me reading so I can see trying another by the author in the future.
371776
3.5 Stars

It was a bit surprised by this book.  Yes, it's a second chance romance, but there was a huge unexpected paranormal aspect to it that threw me a bit for a loop.  I'm not much of a paranormal person so unfortunately it was a bit of a detractor.  BUT, that's just me.

While I didn't immediately connect with Addie, I certainly had the feels for Nate.  My heart did break for Addie, but I wanted her to grow a pair of lady balls at times.  Bute Nate?  I think he was a good guy and trying to do his best in the worst kind of situation.

They met young and were at the mercy of their parents.  However, as adults when they reconnect by chance (or was it fate?), they certainly have more control over the path their lives can take.

While I did like the writing and really enjoy the author's other books, I think I felt as though the story had too many tangents.  It certainly won't turn me off of her future books, but I hope there's no more paranormal/spirits without it being mentioned in the synopsis.
3213855
This was a 3.5 star read for me. I loved that the story made for an easy read but there were no surprises for me as far as character reveal was concerned. You knew who the devil is from the beginning unfortunately it takes Arcadia, the main character, a long time to figure it out. I thought the story was the perfect length, not too long but just enough to tell a fast-paced story of mystery and danger as Arcadia chooses to go on a road trip with two cousins she has just met. Pick this book up if you're craving a contemporary with mystery, danger and a bit of romance.
1324676
This is a cute contemporary tale in which Reality TV collides with a historical romance to create a modern fairytale, without any time traveling. If you love a modern romance where a rich and privileged hero gets bowled over by a thoroughly down-to-earth heroine, then this book is for you. Yes, its predictable, but thats half the fun of these stories.

Abby is living the life her parents loved. Shes running her fathers record shop and struggling to make ends meet, while also studying (something) part-time. Shes not rich, shes definitely not glamorous and most of the time she doesnt really know what she wants from life. Shes likable and ordinary (apart from apparently being lusted over by most men she meets), even if her anti-literature attitude did annoy me a bit.

Then she meets Edmund. Hes quite the contradiction at first. On one hand hes a gentleman who helps out ladies in distress, but on the other he epitomizes the alphahole type  sleeps around without any respect for the women involved, arrogant, demanding, finds it amusing to wind the heroine up while encroaching on her personal space. I found him kind of hard to like at times.

Not least because his whole dilemma felt too contrived for me. Yes, its a common plot from historical romances that the lordly hero has to marry under the terms of his fathers will, or he won't inherit his estate, but for me that didn't transfer too well to the contemporary setting. Not least because estates are expensive and need a lot of outside revenue to maintain, especially the houses which tend to be money pits. Not to mention death duty taxes that would have landed this feckless playboy deeply in debt if he had not other financial recourse. Theres a reason why the National Trust owns so many estates and stately homes in England. However, not everyone is going to know that so most can probably gloss over it.

I also found it a bit odd that Abby would often lapse into Regency-esque speak. Edmund just about gets a pass, because hes well read and is essentially a Regency hero fresh from a Georgette Heyer novel. Abby, however, has no interest in historical novels, yet frequently sounds like she was born in one. It might have been cute, if it hadnt been so highly unlikely.

When it comes to the Reality TV side of things, I love these kind of plots, although this is the first one I've read where the players involved are free to continue on with their normal lives outside of the show. The amount of time Edmund manages to spend with Abby was a bit surprising, but it gave them plenty of opportunities to get to know each other, and the longer they spent together the cuter it was. They are a sweet couple, bringing out the best in each other, while also having plenty of fun verbal sparring session.

Overall this was enjoyable and fun, if you don't dig too deep or question too hard. Edmund is a total clich, veering between awful and adorable and mostly ending up lovely, while Abby is your everyday girl who gets swept away by it all. If you love a good opposites attract novel, combining a rich hero with a poor heroine, with a touch of a modern fairytale, then you should like this.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
362910
This book was worth the time to read it.  An interesting twist on romance that def will make you think twice about fidelity and forgiveness.  It kind of got muddled at the end.  Something about the timeline and plausibility left me unfulfilled.  At any rate, I liked it.
406530
I enjoyed this romance with some steam and angst, which had a good range of secondary characters and a MC couple who both had major reasons not to get involved related to tragedies in their past.  Al, the hero passing through, seemed aware of his failings and ready to work on himself.  Sam, the rancher heroine, ran hot and cold, had some control issues and was less appealing to me until her secret was revealed.  The story was generally well-written and provided a few excellent shocker twists in the latter part of the story.  I did, however, find the epilogue a bit too drawn out and it tied everything together TOO well, unrealistically so.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book;  this is my voluntary and honest review.