A mediocre book and a mediocre romance,
924533
I was not impressed with the book, the characters, the storyline was meandering and the entire book rather meaningless, unless you want to read a rambling description of nail polish colors, outfits for the women, outfits of the men, forced humour from a parrot and many other secondary romances thrown in willy nilly. The sex in the story seemed out of place because this was a book about every sport you can think of, certainly the focus was on plays and innings rather than romance, let alone anything hot. First kiss between h and H around... page 175, only passionate kiss in the book, between the H and another woman who ends up in another mans arms. A mediocre read if you are looking for sports in small towns for 260+ pages, a boring book if you are looking for romance.
1778925
I went out looking  for a simple romantic book for a rainy weekend, and instead found a book that's trying too hard to be something that it's not.

I didn't fall in love with any of the characters, and Gemma made far to many philosophical soliloquies for my taste. I was often distracted from the storyline just trying to see how her revelations were pertinent to the plot.

The end was very confusing, as if the author was trying to make a twist ending but failed miserably. There were also quite a few spelling and grammatically errors that shouldn't be found in a sophisticated book.

It earns the three stars by being a sweet love story between a star crossed college student and her professor. Secret romance, oh la la.
1715348
Unlikable character, limited storyline, and some unrealism.
3504105
KISS ME, I'M YOURS is the second book in the 'Tennessee Waltz' series but can easily be read alone.  Sophie Bowen is the owner of an yoga studio when she finds out that her boyfriend, Kevin, is messing around on the sly with one of her clients.  He was working off some loans with Sophie and she fears he has stolen money.  Then she finds out that the IRS is going to perform an audit and is afraid she will lose her business.

So what does Sophie do?  Go out with some employees/BFFs and get drunk, of course.  But before the night is over she has an accident and finds herself in another time period: it is now 1865 and the Civil War ended three months ago. She finds herself saved from a tragic moment by a farmer, Gabriel, and a mute twelve year old girl.

Suspend your disbelief because the heroine, for most of the story, comes across as whiny and abrasive.  She is scared and this is the way she handles her fear; her mouth rules her actions.  She wants nothing more than to return to the present time.  This goes on for about 80% of the story.

I'm going out on a limb with my review and say that I was very disappointed with  KISS ME, I'M YOURS.  The plot felt disjointed, the heroine was unlikable, and there was little chemistry between Sophie and Gabriel.  Nothing seemed to click.

When you mix the chick-lit genre with a time-travel, fantasy, and historical romance theme you are playing with fire.  It takes some skill to make it work.  First and foremost, you have to make the characters believable.  And you have to make the reader care about what happens to them.  Neither of those ideas worked for me.

That said, I loved KISS ME, I'M IRISH.  The author took a hodgepodge of genres, melted them together and made the story work.  I rated it five stars and consider it a keeper.  Not so with this second story; I trudged through the book.  I hoped against hope that it would get better.  It didn't.  And unfortunately, I am no longer excited enough to continue with the series.
3479206
I read a lot of historical romances.  Perhaps I want to much out of a book, but this book left me wanting for a lot of things;  Like characters to like and an interesting plot.

It's not that it's a horrible book, it's just not very good.  I thought Liam was a little whiney and wimpy for a hero and Ellie just never made me care if she ever found love or not.  I did like Nettie, but then I have a soft spot for kids.

If you are looking for a slow easy read, then perhaps this is your book. If you want witty conversation and chemistry look elsewhere.
3691087
Not only did I find the editing lacking, but also the passion factor. The characters spoke as if they were in the modern era of time while the story is supposedly set in the mid 1800's. The plot was predictable and a bit boring. If there was anything exciting in this story, it would have to be the sparks that flew between Ashley and Grace, which would make a great intro into another story, maybe one with more passion and suspense. All in all, a light western romance that could use some color (figuratively speaking).
3718332
This is the first book I read about this author. I have such mixed feelings with this book. I wouldn't say that this book was terrible, but I also wouldn't say that this book was captivating.

I think that the first half of the book was excellent. The author really shows you how Lily and Sherry fall in love. The secondary characters are adorable. All of the actions are so believable.

Somewhere in the middle, all the beauty book possessed fizzled. The author's descriptions of Lily's past was so cruel and horrid. I was just so disgusted by what men did to her in the past that I literally had bad dreams in the night. Also, the first love scene between the two characters were not as romantic and emotional as other ones are in other romance books. It seemed so dry as if it were out of a textbook. Later on, the story focuses more on the mystery than their love for each other.

Then the ending was good, but it wasn't touching as other endings in romance books. So I think that this book wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't say that I loved this book. There were moments in this book where I sighed, but there were also moments where I was just bored or annoyed that I skipped pages.

I think that Goodman has the potential to write much more romantic books if she just focused more on the drama between the two characters instead of all the mystery. For historical romances that are truly romanctic, I'd suggest reading Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Pamela Britton, and Lorraine Heath.
900745
Here's the thing - I did enjoy reading this book. The prose had some truly lovely moments, and the representation of the careless, merciless fairies of old was truly interesting.

But as lovely and interesting as it was... the story was just... bland. It is a romance, but it felt like Margaret Rogerson was trying really hard not to tell a romance. There was no build up, no tension, no real exploration of these feelings that were growing between these two characters. I didn't feel their love, I didn't see their love, and I didn't understand their love. It is never explained how love between an emotion-filled human and a fairy - whose race is supposed to be emotionless and completely self-centered - is even possible. The recipe for a Romeo-and-Juliet, forbidden, impossible love was all there, but was somehow not even broached. Why does this fairy prince love Isobel? The question is never answered. And because it is the anomaly of him that softens her heart, the question of "why does he love her?" is an absolutely essential question to answer. But... nothing.

I guess what this book was really trying to do was show two people fighting for what they want, for a love and happiness that can be shared together when historically it never has been able to. But what is the point of showing them fighting for something that is never truly developed properly?

At the end of the day, all this book really shows is that - unfortunately, something that is becoming a theme in YA fantasy - another special snowflake heroine wins the heart of a special snowflake prince and no one really knows why or how. A talent for painting and an indifference for immortality are not actual love-building qualities, and it certainly doesn't tug at my heartstrings.

Interesting world, interesting characters, but ultimately this book did nothing emotional for me. Another reviewer suggested that if you like A Court of Thorns and Roses, you will probably like this book; and that seems like a solid conclusion. There is a lot of Feyre in Isobel. I'm just glad that, unlike ACOTAR, An Enchatment of Ravens seems to be a standalone.
4631650
Seduction: Sophy is darling and makes this book enjoyable. I love how the ladies of society try to immitate her artless fashion disarray, with untied bows, slipping shawls and loose ribbons. Ravenwood is autocratic, annoying and a bully when it comes to getting his way, but Sophy does a good job of managing him. She's no door mat, thank goodness. Overall I liked this book but didn't love it and wouldn't read it again.

Surrender: I can see why this book only has an average rating of 3.5 stars on Amazon. It is totally lacking romance. Thankfully I checked this out from the library, so I didn't pay for it. And I'm also glad this wasn't the first book I read by Amanda Quick or would be the last. This book isn't terrible, I just didn't enjoy reading it. The premise of an heiress falling for a fortune hunter is standard fare, but the heroine vacillates from intelligent to hare-brained, and the hero turns out to be a scold. He's not a bully since he's kind of a push-over for her, but he's constantly lecturing. Even the ending, which is supposed to be the HEA, is really an argument about why each of them were justified in their bad behavior. Not very pleasant reading. I'm giving three stars because it is well written and the plot is pretty good, but the characters ruined this one for me. Attraction plus adventures does not equal romance.
2403284
The second book I have read by Marylu Tyndall was sadly a disappointment. I didn't really enjoy Veil of Pearls and but gave The Falcon and the Sparrow a chance, one reason being that it is the only one of her novels set in Britain, but also because I did not want to give up on her work completely.

It had a promising beginning and premise, but was neither an especially good spy cum mystery novel nor a quality romance. In some respects, it had many parallels with the other, including assorted bunch of leering and lecherous aristocratic men, or jealous and snobbish aristocratic women one of whom was after the guy who was really falling for Dominque, a woman hiding the truth about her past or identity. Also a hero who has lost his belief in God because of suffering or difficult circumstances. Not an especially original characterization in the case of the last, and the former giving the impression of a somewhat formulaic or clich ridden story. Also, the consistent depiction of almost all wealthy/aristocratic characters in such a way does make me wonder if author dislikes the upper classes as a whole.

The romance was fairly typical for the genre with a nice Christian partner falling for the hurting and unavailable/unsuitable other half. There were too many coincidental nocturnal encounters in unbuttoned shirts or only a nightgown for my liking, and the romance bordering on inappropriate or verging on the racy or even obscene. The attempted rape scene was almost enough to tip it over the edge- there are other novels which involve such things, but the way they were written did not seem appropraite. In fact it came across as obscene, almost stomach- turning.
With everything I did feel uncomfortable reading the novel on some occasions. Not good for Christian fiction.

I'm not certain how accurate the setting was, and the historical details were at times interesting, but other deficiencies detracted from this. As with other books, I felt the descriptions of the supposed dirt, unhealthiness, unpleasantness and squalor which supposed blighted most cities throughout the `old days' was exaggerated and overdone. Even affluent areas like St James' Park stinking of manure, seriously?

Dominque's nocturnal wanderings in seedy areas of London seemed a common enough occurrence for some books in this genre. Yet not clever at all so her almost getting into trouble was hardly a surprise- until the mysterious man who was quite obviously an angel appeared to protect her.
I don't mean to appear facetious or irreverent, as the scripture does teach God can send angels to protect his people, but this happened in Veil of Pearls too so it seems to be quite a frequently used device, almost making it seem like an easy 'get out clause'.

I thank the author for emailing me the Kindle edition after alerting her to a copy uploaded to the internet without authorization, but due to two bad reading experiences I sadly do think I will steer clear of her books in future.
3558836
I had expected something more out of this series - maybe not up to Laurell Hamilton's level, but with a four-star rating, I certainly expected something dynamic.

Instead, I found a book where the plot is fractured and fragmented, the main characters are less interesting than the secondary characters, and the dialogue is overblown and melodramatic. To add insult to injury, the book is in serious need of copy-editing - I noticed several typos, grammatical errors, and misused words.

If this is paranormal romance, then it should follow at least some of the plot conventions. In this, the hero is in love within a handful of pages, and the heroine is swept up in his passion and bound to him within a few heartbeats. So... then what? The author fails to sufficiently threaten their relationship (again, a key plot convention). Even when the heroine is expressing doubts about whether it's love or obsession, she's at the same time saying how she could never leave him. So basically she's having tantrums and belly-aching for no reason? It's exasperating, and makes a character who should have been really plucky and likable into someone insipid. What a waste!

The hero isn't much better. There's zero character development. He's obsessed and overprotective in the first chapter, and continues that way through the end of the book, even though he and the heroine agree that some compromise is needed because she's "independent" and doesn't want to take orders from him. He finds comfort when he and the heroine have sex, but basically other than that he's exactly the same tyrant that he was at the beginning.

The subplot to the romance, which should be more of a suspense/thriller, is handled in fits and starts. We learn of the murder of the hero's sister early in the book, then it devolves into a lot of arguing and sex (and a surprising lack of grief from her supposedly devoted brother). Only when the relationship is mostly cemented does that thread pick up again... and it's completely jumbled. There isn't a clear idea of who the threat might be or where it's coming from (the villain at the end comes with very little context; everyone else is obvious from the earliest part of the book). Even some of the dangerous scenes don't hold together logically (they have a known threat but fail to protect against it - multiple times).

What redeems this book is that it's a new kind of vampire mythology, which is always fun, and the secondary characters could actually be very compelling in future books. We're introducted to Gregori, who is facing the kind of despair that drives a Carpathian to death or madness and bloodlust, and to Jacques, the gentle, funny, and loyal brother of the leader of the Carpathians. I actually want to see them find life mates, so I'm willing to try a second book... but only *barely* willing after how woefully mishandled this story was by the author and her editor!
4264729
The back of this book alludes to the "romance and adventure" of the middle ages. It's all romance; love-at-first-sight/I-want-your-nuts type romance. I mean, all together it's not a horrible read, but definitely not particularly satisfying either
3210641
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book. I know that romance novels can be cheesy from time to time, but goodness, give me a break!
4760982
I love a good romance as much as anyone, but it was a struggle to get through this book.  It's set in 1876, yet the dialogue is completely modern and unrealistic for the time.  It's hard to visualize the characters in the proper historical context when they are speaking as if they lived in modern times.  And I grew weary of the main characters constantly mooning over each other, yet refusing to acknowledge their feelings.  Even the rough and tumble cowboy kept waxing poetic and getting weak in the knees at every thought of his beloved.  It seemed a little over the top, and accounted for too much of the internal dialogue.  Aside from that, the characters are likable and it's not a bad story; I just wish it were a little more realistic.
314976
This is a "pretty good" romance which just misses being "very" good, and I think that's due to the plot losing a little steam midway through, more than anything else.  The hero & heroine make love at this point, and they decide to marry fairly quickly after that.  Their actions take away from the "when will they fall in love/when will they admit this to each other?" dynamic, that powers most romance novels.  Their "romantic conflict" is somewhat too easily resolved.

On the plus side, the characters are somewhat different than the romance norm, and are well-written:

Edward, a Duke who actually works and makes himself a fortune (which is historically inaccurate, because the story is set in a time when an aristocrat would never dirty his hands with WORK - but it's nicely written).  This is a different sort of late-Regency hero in a romance novel and I appreciated it.  It's refreshing to read about an aristocrat who's working, and REALLY working; not as a spy or a renegade of some kind.

Charlotte, the somewhat spoiled, but basically nice girl who Edward humiliated by refusing to become engaged to in years prior - who now tries to convince herself that he means nothing to her.

Edward's mother, who can't forgive him for demeaning himself with real work (even though it's through his work that he's able to keep her in comfort, thanks to his new fortune!).

There's also a little subplot romance between Edward's brother and his mother's paid companion.  Unfortunately, the brother and his girlfriend are not very interesting characters.  Although I felt some sympathy for them, their plight didn't engage my interest.

All in all, a nice read, a fairly good romance, but not especially gripping or memorable.
774513
This is my first book by this author and I grant it's not really my preference.  The blurb sounded really interesting and what drew me in.  The premise was good, if a little out there.

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR WILL***

The hero (Colin) was alright, everything a hero in a romance book should be. I must say though that he was quite incompetent as an inspector.  JMO of course.

Now for what really bugged me, the heroine (Amelia). On page 48 my opinion of her was cemented as a complete ditz. She fashions herself a Sherlock Holmes and judging by her detecting skills she would need the clues pointed out to her and maybe even labeled as such.  She's no Watson, let alone Sherlock.

Between the Hero and Heroine they didn't even solve the crime, more like blundered upon the villain who explained everything.
*****
As a romance this is sweet, light hearted (there is one love scene). As a mystery, its more a riddle(?) you don't really even get any clues.  I don't think I'll be getting any more books by her. Perhaps shes more your style.
2838487
This was my first novel by Ruth Logan Herne, and I have to confess it didn't do much for me.  The opening scene was great and led me to expect that the rest of the book would be of the same calibre (and if youve read the first scene, theres no pun intended here!) but it quickly fizzled away into ho-hum.

The biggest disappointment for me was that we never got to see Colt and Angelina spending time getting to know one another.  Yes, they had scenes together, and they thought about or noticed each other a lot, but there was nothing in any of this that developed or deepened a friendship between them.  Without that emotional attachment to one another, their romantic interactions felt like out of place clich&eacute;s; a bit over-the-top and even cheesy at times.  As far as romances go, this was of the sweet variety, but it definitely had an artificial flavour about it.

The conflict in the romance wasn't very compelling either, being expressed mainly in the characters heads (for example, reminding themselves not to form an attachment to the other, despite their attraction) and often arising from their lack of communication with each other.  Despite Colts oft-repeated assertions (to himself) that he would return to New York, I never really believed he would.  In fact, beyond the first scene, I had trouble believing that he had ever been that person at all.  Obviously he had the financial knowledge, but in terms of his character, I think it would have been more convincing if we had seen that character gradually transform into the person he was by the end of the novel.  Instead, I felt as though he had merely been paying lip-service (or thought-service) to the character he was supposed to have been.

Beyond this, the writing itself involved a lot more telling than showing, and the author didn't seem to trust the reader to understand things unless they were explained to them (sometimes quite thoroughly).  I don't need to know a characters backstory straight away, nor do I want them to continually interpret another characters actions or the subtext in a conversation.  If the writing is showing, I can see it for myself.

All up, there was the potential here for a good story, but it fell flat for me.  Nicks story will be next in the series, and as much of the ground work for his situation is laid in this novel I may still read it so that I can see how things resolve for him.  Otherwise, Im not particularly inspired to continue with the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel through Blogging for Books.  This has not influenced the content of my review.