One good title, one meh as far as romance goes
586140
I enjoyed the Wedding Planner and decided to take a chance on the double DVD since I hadn't seen the other movie before. Big mistake. My Best Friends Wedding just made me so mad at her horrible behavior! I could not find any reason to defend her actions. You can be jealous that your love is getting married, but don't be such a cold-hearted saboteur when he doesn't return the affection. You've been friend-zoned, get over it home-wrecker. If you have seen this movie before and liked it then go ahead and buy these two. But otherwise I recommend getting the Wedding Planner on its own!
266686
Despite a VERY scandalous-sounding beginning, this little romance is slightly irritating and flat.

Several years ago, it was Tess Buchanan's testimony that caused Jake Walker (her secret crush) to be expelled during his senior year of high school after he was caught in a comprosing position in a supply closet with one Cassie Pratt. Cassie left town and eventually had a baby, Jake left town to a communal sigh of "good riddance," and Tess grew up,got engaged to an up-and-coming politician, and joined the local Historic Preservation committee.

Now Jake is back in town, and all bets are off.

Jake has decided to restore his mother's old house (did I mention that Tess is on the Historic Preservation committee?), but he is hindered by the fact that much of the town still sees him as the wild child of a no-good father. Tess blames him for deserting Cassie and his child. But wait--the reader is immediately informed that Tess is mistaken; the baby wasn't Jake's, no matter what the general consensus among the town's gossips is. So, the frustrated reader will immediately ask her/himself, why in the world doesn't Jake clue Tess in to this important fact as they grow more and more interested in each other???

Well, Jake has his noble reasons, but they are very convoluted ones that don't hold much water. Tess doesn't figure out till about 130 pages in that she should hunt Cassie up for a chat. Once that is done, everything gets straightened out.
3364078
I love the Recency romance genre, and some are definitely better than others. As a young student of course I read Jane Austen and loved her writing. When I was older I stumbled onto Georgette Heyer. Needless to say, these two set a very high standard for me in this genre. I have since set myself a few rules for a really good historical romance. They must use historically correct language; they must display historically correct manners; and they should be believable as to societal structure of the times. All this and a great romance. Unfortunately, this title displays only one of these four, but fortunately it is the most important and that is that it is a last a good romance. I would have liked to give it 2 1/2 stars, but this is not possible and this is this writer's freshman performance. I sincerely hope she does a little more research for her next offering.
3197813
Like a lot of romance novels, the details and nuances of this one slip away fairly quickly.  It follows the prescribed romance novel arc: boy and girl meet, boy and girl have misunderstanding/mishap/adventure, boy and girl realize they are in love but don't tell each other, boy and girl are separated by fate/relatives/giant squid/rip in the time-space continuum, boy and girl get it together and live happily ever after.  And it has very clichd characters, the exact kind you expect to find in a romance novel.

Still, it's not (for a romance novel) a bad read.  It gives you what most people want out of them: escapism.  It's fun while it lasts, will keep you entertained, and has interesting enough characters.  I could pick apart the problems with the historical accuracy or the issues with the realism of the characters given the time frame, but... that's not why I, for one, read romance novels.

If you just want an afternoon of fun, mindless entertainment, this book isn't bad.  I've read better romance novels, but I've read far worse.  If you want something deep, meaningful, and realistic... you probably don't really want a classic 'romance novel', anyway.
4443647
3.5 stars. I had high hopes for this book since I prefer reading contemporary Christian romance; the concept sounded good and the cover draws you in. But this book disappointed me. There were a number of aspects the author did right: spunky identifiable heroine, brooding, wounded man, feisty senior citizens, the way the relationship between Kate and Matt was realistic and evolved slowly, the way she tried to draw him out of his shell...but there were too many things that bothered me. I thought it all over a few days before writing this, so please know this review is not "off the cuff." The writing was fine but with perhaps a few too many short, choppy and disjointed sentences (and questionable placement and use of too many adverbs). I'm thrilled Bethany House has put out a contemporary romance, but very surprised with some of the things in this book; it's to the point where it might turn off some of its regular readers (like me) in order to reach a more mass appeal. Poker playing for money (no matter how little or much), yoga, a Halloween observation, designer name-dropping and crass thoughts and expressions didn't endear me to the characters, realistic or not. More than that, the emphasis on raging hormones and Matt's hotness quotient was completely overkill. Every single woman--no matter how old or young, married or single--commented on how hot he was. That's not realistic. I admire Kate for wanting to help out two senior citizens on the road to love, but I didn't like how the woman insisted the man look a certain way (even to wearing a certain brand of shirt) before she'd go out with him. And perhaps most of all, why on earth did Kate accept a date with a leering guy who obviously had little or no faith and was so sleazy? If you guessed because he was fine looking, you've got the idea. I lost a good deal of respect for her at that point. Sure, it made Matt jealous. And sure he's rich and has a high-powered, ultra expensive car in the garage. Even in one of the requisite scenes at the end, it's mentioned how a guy friend of Kate's back home once had the "hots" for her. This book was simply too formulaic in many respects and with the old cat-and-mouse game (he loves me, he loves me not, I'm not worthy of him/her). I don't want a Harlequin romance, I want a Christian romance. Mention of faith was there, but I was offput by the other worldly factors, bottom line. I'll be more careful next time I see one of this author's books although I'm sure this will be a wildly popular hit. ADDENDUM: I do not appreciate being singled out (along with other reviewers with less than stellar ratings for this specific book) by a blogger who belittled my conservative Christian opinions expressed in this review. The reason for his ranting in the first place was to discuss the "controversy" caused by this book, but his ridicule was grossly unfair and unwarranted.
4408565
2 werewolves, a career driven male and a broke distrustful female, find themselves tossed together when the male "accidentally" mentions in a job interview that they're married.

As with all stories of this nature, hilarity and romance ensues when 2 characters, who are attracted to each other but have a lot of baggage, meet... or at least that's what this book promises. It adds a werewolf bit to the tried and true romance formula, by adding the whole "one true mate" thing and the ferocity of being super strong and animal like.

To say that it adds anything groundbreaking would be a stretch, but it does make the journey worthwhile. The writer has a good command of the language to keep you hooked. You want to find out what happens next, even though you already kind of know.

Dawn Steele has a medium command of the concepts and ideas introduced in the book. I wasn't sure I bought the descriptions of how advertising works. I didn't feel like the oblique references to pop culture like Star Trek, were necessarily used properly. But, these instances were mostly throwaway characterisations anyway, so they really don't matter as much.

The main action element of the book is in the third act where the characters must prove themselves worthy by going on a "contest" similar to a famous reality TV show but using werewolf tactics. It was executed ok.

At the end of the day, this book is about the romance between the two characters, and that was handled rather nicely. It didn't feel forced, or too deep that it required a degree is psychology to decipher. It's basically a read whenever you feel like turning of your brain romance. And I mean that in the best possible sense.

It was good. Not something I would tell people was a must read, but if someone was thinking of reading a good shifter romance, and sees this story; I would say go for it. 3 stars.
1152025
Antihero gave me a mixed feeling. The romance was pretty good between Sofia and Nate, and the plot was decent, and a couple of the twists are cute, but the flashbacks seem to serve little purposes other than disrupting the narrative flow, making the read very annoying.

Sofia was a reporter working on her story of some political corruption of a senator. She downloaded the latest research onto her laptop and left early to go home... just in time to turn back and saw her building bombed and the backup server wiped out. She got home only to find the landlord dead and intruder in her apartment. Hoping to say goodbye for her lover, Nate, one last time, she left him a message. The tone was desperate and out of character that he came investigating, just in time to save her from thugs. Now both are embroiled in the conspiracy to silence her, and there is even a traitor in the newspaper. Nate had to call in a few favors to keep Sofia safe, but she had to keep prying at the story and keep her in danger...

The flashbacks are about Sofia's history and why she cannot love Nate and his "job".  Nate cannot abide Sofia's attitude toward dangerous stories (she will pursue them no matter what). So there's a character arc about how they both came to understand each other's viewpoint and finally accept that it's better to love and risk than no love.

The conspiracy is big enough, but Nate fainting from a single gunshot? Oh, please. Too melodramatic.
1530138
I have loved many of this authors books, so I go into any new one with very high expectations. This book was ok, but not special.

The uneven part is that for the first half of the book, it jumped between one dramatic adventure-type plot-line, and a second how the family back home is reacting to the drama plot-line. This second one was tedious, and added very little the story...felt like just a lot of stuff I had to skim through to get back to the adventure,

The romance itself had many nice notes, but I am walking away already barely remembering either lead. At the end we finally see the reveal of something the hero had kept secret, but you could see it coming from so far away, there was no real reveal. That being said, while not a surprise, it was poignantly laid out.

I repeat, my review is probably less flattering than it would be if I hadnt been hoping for so much more. I like this author a lot; this is an ok book of hers - which means its better than at least 80% of romance books out there - but she has finer ones.
873589
From the back cover:

A gallant knight...

When Sire Eric Stavelot was asked to escort Lady Margot out of danger, it was a duty he performed with the utmost reluctance. On the battlefield his prowess was legendary, but in the gentler arts he felt sadly lacking. Yet Eric had never met a lady as determined as Lady Margot.

A lady fair...

Lady Margot Le Brun had loved Eric since she was a child. His mission might be to elude the foes that threatened them, but Margot wasn't about to let Eric elude her. It would take all her wiles to persuade this stubborn man that she was his perfect match.

And my review:

Whether you like this book or not will depend on what you expect from a historical romance. When I pick up a historical romance novel, I expect the primary story to be the relationship. That didn't happen here. While the plot of THE VOW is interesting and well-written, romance is a very small part of it.

For a looong time, the only mention of romance is the fact that Margot has been in love with Eric since she was a child. A few references to and old crush does not make a book a romance. There were tons of storylines going on, and romance wasn't one of them. The author kept introducing more characters every chapter, but she didn't have the hero and heroine interacting with one another. This was really annoying, as that's what I read romance for. Spencer spent far too long setting the stage for her characters.

I got more than 1/4 of the way through the book, and the romance still hadn't started. I shouldn't have to plow through hundreds of pages before the romance gets going, considering it's the reason I bought the book in the first place!

So if you like historical fiction with a hint of romance to spice it up, then you might enjoy THE VOW. But if you're expecting a novel that is primary about falling in love, you're going to be dissapointed.
4857465
I really wanted to like this book. Love the strong, kind, smart, sexy hero that wants to save the beautiful, broken and vulnerable heroine. It's a common theme in romance novels, but various authors have been able to make it work with interesting plots and wonderful characters. Unfortunately, this one didn't work for me.

The book description on the website pretty much gives the whole book away.
Rowan is nearly destitute, has an abusive father and has an opportunity to break away with a dance scholarship. She is 17/18 in this book.
Logan is 24/25 and the older broker of Rowan's BFF. Logan is finishing law school and headed off to an amazing job that will take him far away from Rowan.
The question is - do they end up together or not.
That is the whole plot of the book. Do they, or don't they.
They do. HEA.
What happens the rest of the book? Sex. Sex and more sex.
They lust after each other. He spends most of the book attempting (yes, attempting) to keep his hands off this very young girl. But is not successful. She spends most of the time crying, crying , tearing up, running away, crying, tearing up, being sad...oh, and getting naked with Logan.

I can understand why many people liked this book. Logan is sexy sexy sexy. He is a dutiful son, friend and lover. He desperately wants to save Rowan. The book says that they spend a lot of time together as friends, laughing and sharing stories. That he feels comfortable with her. But it is just narrative. The author doesn't show this through conversations. i like dialogue - want to actually read what they talk about - feel their bonding. Just to say that they bonded doesn't engage me enough.

Rowan's dad is abusive. She has her BFF's family to turn to. So why does she EVER go back home to be near a dad that may kill her? Uhm. not sure. Why would she EVER go into her trailer alone without protection? Uhm. not sure. yes - it's a horrible situation, but she has many opportunities to be able to prevent it. She can stop going to the trailer alone. Why does she protect her father for so long? Uhm. not sure. the author tries to explain it, but it doesn't ring true for me.
So Rowan spends a lot of time crying - and Logan spends a lot of time comforting her and feeling helpless, sad , protective, etc.
I like my female leads to be stronger, and more independent.
The readers that give this book 4-5 stars must really like the weak female+strong male=happy romance formula. (I am not knocking that formula - it just doesn't work for me). If you like that type of plot, this is a great book for you.

Again, there was just too much sex/almost sex going on in this book. It really was overdone.

Also - I just didn't understand why Logan felt so compelled to bend over backwards to accommodate Rowan. He seemed to knock himself out to help her.

This book did not have a cliffhanger. It does have a happy ending.
922533
2.5 stars

This book is pure fluff -- sweet, light, and colorful, but without much substance. The world-building is pretty vague and the romance -- while sweet -- is predicable YA fare. All that being said, it has its enjoyable, fluffy, romantic moments, if you're not expecting or looking for something deeper. Shannon Hale's Princess Academy has a lot more heart than The Selection, but doesn't have some of the fun, shiny moments: makeovers, pretty dresses, and the like. It doesn't have the depth of a fleshed-out, dystopian world (like The Hunger Games), but if you want something less "serious", this is a good place to look.

My biggest complaint with The Selection had to do Cass's writing style. Too much tell, not enough show! I don't want a stilted play-by-play of every action or clear-cut commentary on our main character's thoughts. Show me what's happening; show me how she's feeling! Don't make it so cut and dry that I get bored (which I did, often).

America's characterization didn't always ring true for me. Some of her actions seemed to serve the sole purpose of creating conflict or moving the plot along. For that reason, she didn't come across as authentic or particularly well-developed.

Another thing: several of the names in this book were ridiculous. I honestly think I would have had an easier, more enjoyable read if America, Aspen, and Maxon had different names -- or at least oft-used nicknames. ("Mer" was cute. I wish we could have had more of it!)

All in all, I enjoyed it enough to finish it. The Selection didn't tickle my fancy, but I certainly see its appeal. (That cover is gorgeous!)
1226637
This book spanned the entire range of stars for me. There were parts that made no sense and irritated me, and there were parts that were fantastic. So, I ended up averaging the whole thing out to give it 3 stars.

I absolutely loved the hero of this story. He's a different kind of hero and I just fell so hard for him. He was by far the best part of this story and I wanted to see more of him. The heroine wasn't as good, but still decent.

The story is really entertaining, though it spends more time dealing with kidnappings and attempted murders than showing their romance blossom. Their love story is a little too based on lust than love, but the author does establish an emotional connection that does enough to keep it romantic--she just flirts with the line between the two.

But there were a few things I really didn't care for. Such as the fact that the entire premise is based on these women being sold off because they're in jail for murder. Except it wasn't murder, it was self-defense. It's so clearly self-defense that it's ridiculous that they're even thrown in jail for one minute. It felt like a major oversight and the author just didn't want to deal with it.

Or a major plot line in the book revolves around the idea that the hero speaks ASL, because his mother was deaf. Except his mother died when he was five (maybe four). I find it strange when books rely on someone remembering fairly detailed things from when they were around that age. Maybe I just have a bad memory, but I don't think I could tell you anything in any great detail from that age. I don't think I could even tell you who my kindergarten teacher was. Again, this felt like a plot line that the author wanted to include, but wouldn't take the time to think of a plausible way to do it.

And the ending felt too rushed. There were a lot of things brought up in the book that I felt were never addressed properly. Such as the fact that the heroine is out in the wilderness because she "murdered" someone back home and her father shipped her off west. But it's never really explained what happened. There's just a passing mention of it. And the heroine is shown to have a lot of emotional baggage herself, but it's never addressed. Though she struggles with her self-esteem and feeling unloved, she just suddenly switches those deeply ingrained issues one day and embraces without question that her husband loves her. It seems as though there should have been a little more resolution to that, too.

**Content Warning: I was told this book didn't have any sex scenes, but that's not true. Besides the very heavy petting scenes scattered throughout it, there is a vague sex scene at the very end. Frankly, there was such a focus on the petting and lust that it seemed strange for the actual sex scene to be so vague. It's like she wrote a very smutty "clean" romance or a watered down sexy romance. It's like she wanted to please both camps, but to me she didn't succeed in either. It focused enough on lust that I don't think I'll be picking up the next book in the series.
1851978
Thoughts:  Let me just say the premise of this book was a good one. I wanted to like this story I really, really did.  For the most part, I did find it enjoyable.  I mean I liked the romance between the two main characters, Brian and Suzi.  I liked both of their characters.  I liked the storyline  the blurb alone was enough to reel me in.  I even liked the world the author created for the most part.  I just didn't like the way that it was written.

Dont get me wrong, I am not taking anything away from the author, or saying that she is not a great writer  just that the way it was written for this particular book did not appeal to me as a reader.  Also, keep in mind, this is book four and I have only read this one book by the author  which could play a role here, however, I did not get that feeling that I missed out on so much that it affected my enjoyment of the book.  My main issues were the bouncing back and forth between viewpoints of the characters and the sheer number of names of all the various characters that confused me a little at times.  For example, I could get bouncing back and forth with Suzi and Brians viewpoints  I have read a number of books that did just that.  However, also thrown in was Suzis boyfriend Logan  which kind of annoyed me and something I found to be totally unnecessary.  Also the blurb says that Suzi has always had a crush on Brian.  Uhm, that sort of felt to me to be really stretching the truth.  Sure, there was a connection, but a crush is a bit of an overstatement.  I certainly did not get a major impression of unrequited passion, or a lifelong love story from these characters.  I just did not feel it.  I would say the romance was very mild for these two all throughout the book.  And the names!  At the very beginning there are so many names!  Toss in Logans viewpoint, and I felt very confused and that I might have stepped into the wrong book!

However, if asked about whether I would read a book by this author again?  I sure would give her books another tryJ

Rate:  B-
Review by: Sarah
[...]
341793
I like the cover, it looks sexy, but I think the cover is better than the story.
Don't get me wrong, the writing is good, it's not awfully written. But there's just not enough to sink your literary teeth into.
The story is cute and sweet and almost completely without conflict. There's some basic conflict there, couples have arguments, but even their arguments are almost adorable in their predictability. Except it's so predictable that it's not so adorable.
Um so, I feel I should mention that there's a mention of rape in the story. Just a mention of a past event but it might not be what someone wants to read.
And that's it. It's a pretty bland, non-adventurous story. Basically everything in their lives is super perfect. They both have loads of money, great friends, great loving family, and they both find that they love each other in a few days. Again, there might be a small argument here or there but even the antagonists are cleared up in a paragraph.
3576486
I ended the reading dissatisfied, and perturbed about being dissatisfied. I really hate to be so critical, but the plot's discrepancies and unfinished business interfered with my satisfaction.  And, with a romance novel, I think it's important- if not essential to the author's establishment of a loyal following- to have some feeling of satisfaction at the end.  First, the title baffled me.  I expected a scandal... at the Kingsborough Ball... but, no such kissing-based scandal took place.  I re-read the first chapter with the scene at the Kingsborough Ball... No kiss. Perhaps, when the author initiated writing the story, there was a kiss. But, since the kiss was rationalized out of the ball scene (by the self- professed rake, no less), it should also have been removed from the title.  Perhaps a better title should have been "Dancing with an Heir at the Kingsborough Ball?"  Or, how about "The Rake and the Recluse?"  I don't know... THIS need to rename the whole thing... It's definitely evidence of my dissatisfaction.

I'm not going to give much more of the plot, but, really?  The near cat fight scene at the gaming club?  Wasn't the reckless mismanagement of Rebecca's reputation (present at a gaming club!) enough, without all that fussing?  And, what about the earrings? Rebecca's character could have handled receiving them, if they had been gotten back... Heck, she could have won them at a table... Why didn't she?  The fact that they were never won back by the "heir," and eventually given to Rebecca (the rightful owner by default) was a disappointment. If she could handle (even request) being at the club with his former mistress, she wouldn't have minded the earrings being returned to the estate.  But, alas, that situation wasn't satisfactorily resolved, and it left me feeling uncomfortable as the story just moved right along...  I think to continue on about all the remaining incidences of questionable outcomes would take a book-sized review.  My point has been made.  Overall, the book was just okay... as was the romance.  By the way... If you're looking for a satisfactory reason for her being locked away in a castle (??), well... don't look too hard. I promise, you will not be satisfied with what you find.
1862414
There was nothing wrong with the book (and fair warning, nothing absolutely perfect can't put it down amazing either.) The two star rating is more from personal taste rather than a three star rating for it being a bland suspense romance.
Within the first couple of chapters, a female professor at a college is referred to as a feminazi.  Now, odds are the book was written before the election, and it's just part of the Southern culture the author is trying to portray.  But even then, either it's cashing in on an anti-intellectualism that I find very scary, or the author is herself anti-feminist/anti-female.  This is a minor character, who doesn't really affect the plot, which the author goes of her way to denigrate with a divisive insult.  Why would a female author describe a minor character with this description?  I found that baffling.  Especially an author who had gone out of her way to create original, strong, unorthodox female characters in other books (think Sparrow, and even Hayden in this book, who experienced slut-shaming in other books.) So it's ok to be strong as long as you don't get an education and use it to educate others? Sparrow can be militant about guns and prepping but an educator who believes, passionately, in her subject is open to ridicule.  I blame this author's editors for not removing signs of politicization from the text. I don't read romance for the author's political views, but for the neat outcome, some hours of mindlessness and the HEA.

The other issue I had was that the names of the bad guys (who because of the "Southern" tone the author tried to set, I kept thinking "oh look, the Ay-Robs are back." What, if she stereotype, so can I) didn't match the country of origin.  The "tangos" were supposed to be from Afghanistan, but all had names  as if they were from MENA.  Combined with the lack of research into what active military can and cannot do in the US, legally, it was just a book that was maybe not researched as much as the topic warrants, or it presumes that its readers are as anti-intellectual and have as narrow a worldview as someone who would describe a feminist college professor as a feminanzi.

The two stars are mainly because I wanted to read a well researched, though out book as a way to escape the madness of the news around us, and ended up right back in the debate - individualism versus community, hatred of a culture without knowing about that culture, a disdain of even one's own fellow citizens who happen to have chosen a different path in terms of career or education.  It was disheartening.
1490462
Reviewed for TwoLips Reviews, LLC
2 1/2 Kisses
1/2 Pepper (M/F, oral sex)

Lady Noelle was given the task of helping to oversee the school established by her half sister Eva while she was out of town. The school helps troubled courtesans change their lives and teaches them how to prepare for a respectable marriage. When a desperate courtesan named Bliss arrives at the school with a stolen necklace, Noelle agrees to help her return it. But Lady Noelle Seymour is busted sneaking into the Earl of Seabrook's Town house to return the stolen necklace. She goes in the wrong room and encounters the earl's cousin by mistake. Fortunately, he's drunk and she manages to leave the necklace and make her escape. But he remembers her scent, as well as her excuse for being in his room: she's his new courtesan. When he finds her, he insists that she fulfill her promise and become his lover.

The premise of the book sounds intriguing, but for me the story just doesn't deliver. It's tolerable if you can get past the witless schemes Noelle attempts. For example, at one point she decides to dress up like a courtesan so she can mingle with other courtesans, in the hopes that she'll gather some useful gossip about a maid they suspect is connected to the plot to steal the earl's necklace. But there didn't seem to be any reason to think some random courtesans would have any useful knowledge. So to me this just seemed like a pointless ploy to get dressed up like a whore and play amateur detective. As I continued to read, I found Noelle to be immature, impulsive almost to the point of being a danger to herself, and a cock tease. It took a fair amount of self-discipline for me to finish the book. Some of my impatience with this book might be due to the fact that I recently read another historical romance with a very similar beginning, where the heroine was caught sneaking into a bedroom to return a stolen item. Seriously, what kind of idiot would even do that?

Nevertheless, The Accidental Courtesan by Cheryl Ann Smith does have some things that will appeal to fans of historical romance, including passion, mystery and intrigue, a fast-paced plot, and a dashing and worldly hero who knows how to work with his hands.