[BOOK REVIEW] Under the Highlander's Spell by Donna Fletcher

Title:  Under the Highlander's Spell

Author: Donna Fletcher

Genre: Highlander Romance

Year Published: 2008

Number of Pages: 374 pages

Date Read: 12/9/2010

Series: Sinclare Brothers #2

Publisher: Avon

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Under the Highlander’s Spell” is the first Highlander book and the first Donna Fletcher book I have ever read and I enjoyed it to the very end! Anyone who loves hot Highlander heroes, lots of adventure, drama and pure sizzling romance will easily make “Under the Highlander’s Spell” one of their top romance novels!

The book begins with a beautiful healer woman named Zia being tied up at the stake because the people of the village Lorne believed that she is witch when she started healing everyone at the village without anyone dying. Just as Zia was about to be burned at the stake, a dashing and powerful Highlander man named Artair Sinclare of Caithness comes to the village and saves Zia from being burned at the stake and he decides to take her with him so that he could find out about what happened to his long lost brother Ronan. Unfortunately, Zia could not tell Artair everything about his brother and Artair also discovers that Zia is not safe as long as the villagers of Lorne try to catch her and so he decides that he and Zia should get married so that way Zia can remain safe from the villagers of Lorne. But the question is: will Zia agree to this arrangement and how far will their relationship go?

My goodness! This book was so perfect from the beginning to the very end that I just could not put this book down for any reason at all! Donna Fletcher has certainly done a terrific job at conjuring up an exciting and romantic story that will have every romance fan panting like crazy! What I loved the most about this book was Zia and Artair’s relationship throughout this entire book. If you want to know the definition of “love at first sight,” then Zia and Artair’s relationship definitely confirms just that, since from the beginning, Zia and Artair truly loved each other as they supported each other through hard times and communicated so well with each other about their problems in their lives and you get to actually know the characters’ personalities so well since most of the pages in this book consisted of their dialogue with each other. Also, this book is a fair share of sensual scenes that will send shivers down your spines in a good way. Now that is what I call true love! The characters in this book were amazing and memorable, especially the Sinclare Family as they all truly cares for one another and they tried their hardest to protect Zia from being burned on the stake. The characters I really loved in this book were Zia and Artair as both characters were passionate about their goals in life. I really loved the way that Zia is such a strong and passionate character as she always speaks her mind about what she believes that true love is and I loved how she is always devoted to her work as a healer as she tries to help absolutely anyone who comes in her path, which is what I really loved about her character. Artair is another character I really loved as he is always described in having a muscular body which makes him truly sexy and I also loved the way that he is such a compassionate and devoted character as he always cares about Zia and he will do anything to save Zia’s life. Now that is a true romantic hero!

For those of you who are not comfortable with sex scenes, there are a couple of sex scenes in this book that seem a bit graphic, but not too graphic to be disgusting.

All in all, “Under the Highlander’s Spell” is a truly wonderful and sensual book about true love and I am sure that any romance fan will fall head over heels with this book for many years to come!

You might also like: 

• The Bride by Julie Garwood

• The Devil Wears Plaid by Teresa Medeiros

• The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

[BOOK REVIEW] Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

Title:  Just Like Heaven

Author: Julia Quinn

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2011

Number of Pages: 436 pages

Date Read: 12/30/2011

Series: Smythe-Smith Quartet #1

Publisher: Avon Harper Collins 

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I have been reading so many historical romance novels that I must have read almost every one, mainly works from Lisa Kleypas, Teresa Medeiros and Jennifer Ashley. But, this is the first novel I have read from Julia Quinn and it is called “Just Like Heaven.” Actually, “Just Like Heaven” is Julia Quinn’s most recent book to date, so I had the pleasure of reading one of Julia Quinn’s books. 

The story starts off with Honoria Smythe-Smith meeting up with her childhood friend Marcus Holroyd, who is the Earl of Chatteris and the two of them just claim that they are only friends. However, when a terrible tragedy strikes Marcus, when his leg is affected in an accident and he is struck by a terrible fever, both Marcus and Honoria will soon discover their true feelings for each other!

I have read many historical romance novels where the hero and the heroine had an attraction for each other throughout the book. However, this is the first romance novel I have read where the hero and heroine start off as good friends and slowly start to realize their feelings for each other, which was quite unusual for me. Julia Quinn has done a great job at writing this story as the story is extremely cute and playful. I loved the way that Julia Quinn set up the conversations between the characters, especially between Honoria and her cousins as the dialogue that goes on between them is hilarious and comforting, as you can feel the close relationship that these cousins share with each other. I also loved the dialogue that Julia Quinn sets up between Marcus and Honoria as they always have friendly and spirited conversations between them that always make me smile every time I read them! It was also really cute seeing Marcus Holroyd go head over heels for Honoria Smythe-Smith as he clearly cannot understand these “lovely” feelings he keep having and yet, he cannot stay away from Honoria. The story about Marcus’s life as a child was heartwarming and sad as he had a lonely life as a child since he did not have a loving family like the Smythe-Smiths did. However, when he became like a little brother to the Smythe-Smith family, my heart just filled with joy at seeing Marcus being happy with this family! I also liked Honoria Smythe-Smith as she is so kind hearted and understanding towards Marcus’s situation and the scene where Honoria was trying to help Marcus heal from his injury was probably the most emotional and wonderful scene in the entire book since it showed how much Honoria truly cares for Marcus.

Notice that I have not mention much of a romance blossoming between Marcus and Honoria because this novel spends too much time with Marcus and Honoria trying to sort out their feelings for each other. That is not to say that this is a bad thing because I really did enjoy the friendly conversations that Marcus and Honoria had with each other, but as a fan of romance novels, it felt like there was not enough romance, fire and passion between the two of them to make me really believe that their love for each other is real. Marcus and Honoria’s love for each other does not really show up until towards the end of the book and it felt like their relationship with each other was being forced towards the end instead of letting it naturally run along throughout the book. Also, there were many slow moments throughout this book that I was finding it hard to keep up with the story because there were scenes that dragged on for too long before they got to the exciting part of the story. 

Overall, “Just Like Heaven” is a really cute story for romance fans who love stories where the hero and heroine start out as friends and then become lovers. Also, this novel is great for readers who are uncomfortable with sex scenes since this novel does not contain too many sex scenes. Now that I am interested in Julia Quinn’s books, I think I will check out her “Bridgerton” series! 

* 2012 All About Romance (AAR) Annual Reader Poll for Most Disappointing Romance & Honorable Mention for Funniest Romance

You might also like: 

• The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

• The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

• Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

[BOOK REVIEW] Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord by Sarah MacLean

Title:  Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord

Author:  Sarah MacLean

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2010

Number of Pages: 357 pages

Date Read: 4/15/2011

Series: Love By Numbers #2

Publisher: Avon 

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

After reading the first book in Sarah MacLean's “Love By Numbers” series, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake I was practically dying to read the sequel “Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord.” Unfortunately, this novel did not seem to capture my attention like Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and I have often found myself trying to finish this book as quickly as I can.

Ever since Nicholas St. John was named “London's Lord to Land” in a ladies' magazine, he has been avoiding all the women in London. However, when the Duke of Leighton told Nick about his missing sister, Nick was glad to take this opportunity to escape! However, when Nick comes to the secretive Townsend Park, home of Minerva House, he finds the daughter of the late wastrel, Lady Isabel Townsend and he realizes that she is no ordinary woman! But will both lovers ever truly love each other once their dark secrets are revealed?

There were a few good things that I did like about this book. I really loved the love scenes and the hero and heroine! Sarah MacLean had done an awesome job at making Nick the all-time, sexy and ever handsome hero! Whew! I just loved how Nick was willing to help out Isabel and the girls of Minerva House with their financial troubles and I just adored Nick for being honest with his feelings about Isabel. But, not only do I love Nick's personality, but his physical appearance is like the body of a god! I loved how Sarah MacLean described his body as being large and muscular, which are two things I love about my romance heroes! Now about Isabel, I loved the fact that Isabel is such a strong heroine and I loved the way that she stood up to any kind of authority that threatened to tear her apart from the girls of Minerva House. But, probably the best part about this novel were the love scenes between Isabel and Nick! I mean, this book is littered with love scenes galore and man, these scenes are hot and sizzling!

Now, here are some reasons why I gave this book a three star rating. For one thing, I often get annoyed with the heroine, Isabel, since she has some major trust issues to work through. I know that Isabel is scared to trust men because of what her father did to her mother and I do understand what she is going through, but still, I think that she could have at least put a little trust in Nick. I also felt sorry for Nick throughout the book because it is evident that he truly does love Isabel, but Isabel always seem to push him away from her no matter what Nick does to earn her love and it got so irritating after awhile. Also, I thought that this book was a little boring at times because the plot seem to slow down in many scenes and there are barely any action scenes in this book, so it was sometimes hard for me to get through this book without a bit of action.

Overall, this book is an average read for me. Even though “Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord” has some really cute scenes between Nick and Isabel, I just wished that Isabel was a little more trusting of Nick and I wished that there were more action scenes to keep my attention to the plot. Even though this is not my favorite book out of the series, I cannot wait to read the third book, Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart

You might also like: 

• Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean

• Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

• Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

[BOOK REVIEW] When a Texan Gambles by Jodi Thomas

Title:  When a Texan Gambles

Author:  Jodi Thomas

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2003

Number of Pages:  304 pages

Date Read: 3/11/2011

Series: Wife Lottery #2

Publisher:  Berkley Books

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Some Language and Gun Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I have been currently reading Jodi Thomas's “Wife Lottery” series and after I have just finished the first book of the series, “The Texan's Wager,” which starred Bailee Moore and Carter McKoy, I finally got the chance to read the second book of the series, “When a Texan Gambles.” “When a Texan Gambles” stars Sarah Andrews and Sam Gatlin and boy, do they have wild adventures throughout this book! Expect a whole lot of drama, adventure and romance in this exciting sequel to “The Texan's Wager!”

After Sarah Andrews confessed to the murder of Zeb Whitaker along with her friends Bailee and Lacy, she was auctioned off in a “Wife Lottery” and ends up with a man named Sam Gatlin. Things were not going well for Sarah until she realized that Sam was stabbed in the back with a knife! Now that Sarah has taken care of Sam's wounds, she will soon discover that she is probably married to the most dangerous man the west have ever known!

Wow! I think this had to be the most action-packed story out of the entire “Wife Lottery” series so far! Jodi Thomas has done an awesome job at providing action throughout this novel, which just had me sitting on the edge of my seat every time I read about Sam and Sarah's escapades in escaping from various crooks who are after Sam's neck! What I really loved about this book were the characters themselves and my favorite characters in this book were Sam Gatlin and Sarah Andrews! I will admit that I really adored Sarah's spunk and kindness towards others as she is an innocent yet kind-hearted woman and I loved the way that she is willing to help anyone in their time of need, which includes helping various families reunite with each other. I also loved the little arguments that Sarah has with Sam because they were so cute and they always seem to make up at the end. Now, I am saving the best character for last and that is the sexiest and bravest cowboy to ever walk the planet, Sam Gatlin! Sam Gatlin is probably the most amazing romance heroes ever created because he is one-hundred percent all muscle on the outside and has a huge heart on the inside and that is what I like about my romance heroes!   Now, this book does not just have adventure, it also has hot and sizzling romantic scenes! The sexual moments between Sarah and Sam were just so steamy that I was literally fanning myself every time I read these scenes between Sarah and Sam!

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating is because I often got a little frustrated with Sarah throughout the book because she does not seem to trust Sam enough and she rarely reciprocates her feelings for Sam. Now, I do understand that she is a little reluctant in loving someone again because of her empty relationship with Mitchell, her first husband, but sometimes I think that Sarah tends to go a little overboard with telling off Sam about showing his love for her and also the fact that Sarah keeps telling Sam about the rules of love sort of makes me a little uncomfortable because I always love seeing how love comes naturally to romance heroes and heroines, rather than base it on a set of rules.

Overall, “When a Texan Gambles” is a great sequel to “The Texan's Wager” that romance fans of Jodi Thomas's works will greatly enjoy. I am definitely looking forward to reading the third book in the series “A Texan's Luck” next!

You might also like:

• The Texan's Wager by Jodi Thomas

• A Texan's Luck by Jodi Thomas
• The Texan's Reward by Jodi Thomas

[BOOK REVIEW] Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Title:  Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

Author:  Sarah MacLean

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2010

Number of Pages: 397 pages

Date Read: 12/15/2010

Series: Love By Numbers #1

Publisher: Avon 

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

After reading so many romance novels with a generous and kind hero, I have finally stumbled upon a romance novel where we have here a “bad boy” hero. “Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake” is an amazing tale by Sarah MacLean about romance, drama, betrayal and lots of love making scenes that will have romance fans flipping over with excitement!

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell (Callie for short) has always wanted more out of her life since her life as a spinster to make a list of nine rules to break to make her life more interesting. While completing her list, Callie meets notorious and handsome rake Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston (Gabriel or Ralston for short) who she seems to have feelings for since ten years ago. Now Callie’s notorious list will either break her and Gabriel apart or bring them together.

Oh my goodness! Oh my gosh! I have never read a romance novel quite like this before! Sarah MacLean has certainly done an awesome job at writing this wonderful tale of love and betrayal! Now, I will talk about what I loved about the characters and the story. Sarah MacLean has probably created the most controversial yet most memorable characters in romance novels history! Callie is such a headstrong and passionate character, that I just loved her from the beginning! I loved the way that Callie was willing try something different in her life; even if it meant that she has to break the rules of the society she lives in to be a more daring person. Another character that really grew on me was Gabriel St. John and I will admit that when I first read about him, I was so annoyed by his rude and arrogant behavior towards Callie, but once I found out about how his mother had abandoned his family when he was small which caused him to distrust the power of love, I actually felt sympathy for him and when he stood up for Callie, watch out because Ralston truly shows his “bad” side when it comes to Callie! I also loved the fact that Gabriel is a true “bad boy” hero of the story as he has one rude and arrogant attitude, but he truly does have a heart of gold when it comes to protecting Callie. Now onto the juicy parts of this story! There are plenty of love-making scenes in this book from the very beginning to the very end and each love scene in this book will make you literally sweat and tingle all over as the scenes really go into great detail.

This book is basically filed to the brim with sex scenes, so anyone who is uncomfortable with reading about sex scenes might find it a bit difficult to read through this book.

Overall, “Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake” is definitely one of the most irresistible and unique romance novels ever written and any romance fans looking for pure love scenes and “bad boy” heroes will definitely get a kick out of this book!

* 2010 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance
* 2010 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award (RT Award) for Seal of Excellence
* 2011 RITA Award by Romance Writers of America Nominee for Best Regency Historical

You might also like: 

• Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean

• The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

• Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

[BOOK REVIEW] Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

Title:  Dark Triumph

Author:  Robin LaFevers

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2013

Number of Pages: 387 pages

Date Read: 3/19/2017

Series: His Fair Assassin #2  

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Some Suggestive Situations)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“Hate cannot be fought with hate. Evil cannot be conquered by darkness. Only love has the power to conquer them both.” 

I must admit that it has been awhile since I had last read Robin LaFevers’ hit novel “Grave Mercy.”  However, years later I finally read the sequel of this fantastic series called “Dark Triumph” and I must say that it was even more exciting and personal than “Grave Mercy” was!

When Sybella first arrived at the convent of Mortain, she was mad with grief as she used to live with her monstrous dictator of a father d’Albret and her brothers Julian and Pierre and her life there was full of misery and turmoil.  Just as Sybella was enjoying her life at the convent, her life takes a drastic turn as the abbess of the convent forces Sybella to go back to d’Albret’s kingdom in order to find a means to weaken the dictator during Brittany’s war with France.  When Sybella founds out about this mission, she becomes truly heartbroken and she starts doubting the existence of Mortain as she wonders to herself about why would Mortain force her to go back to a life of pure misery with d’Albret?  It was not until later on when Sybella meets up with one of d’Albret’s prisoners, a huge and ugly man called Beast who is a loyal servant to the duchess of Brittany and a pawn that d’Albret wishes to use against the duchess.  When Sybella meets up with the prisoner, she decides to free him in order to prevent d’Albret from using him against the duchess and the two make their way towards the kingdom of Brittany to turn the tides in the war against France and d’Albret himself.  But, Sybella will soon realize that she may have feelings for Beast and that might turn the life that she has known all her life upside down.

Wow!  Even though I had enjoyed reading Robin LaFevers’ “Grave Mercy” novel, I never would have thought that I would enjoy the sequel “Dark Triumph” even more than “Grave Mercy!”  I loved the way that Robin LaFevers made this sequel much darker and more personal than the first book as readers are introduced to Sybella’s side of the story and how her life was full of turmoil and betrayal that made her doubt her existence in the world and how Mortain would allow her life to become so turbulent.  I really enjoyed seeing the character development that Sybella goes through in this book as she had an extremely miserable life with her treacherous family and I actually felt bad for her during the moments where she starts doubting her existence in the world due to certain circumstances not going her way.  I also enjoyed seeing the relationships that Sybella had developed over the course of the story, especially her relationship with Ismae, as they shared a sisterly bond that kept them close to each other and I like the way that Ismae tries to comfort Sybella during her times of stress.  But the character I was the most interested in was Beast himself as he has many similarities to Sybella (both love to fight off the bad guys and both had lost people that they cared about) and yet, he still retains a happy and go lucky attitude during the whole ordeal with d’Abret and the French.  But, I cannot leave out one of my most favorite aspects of Beast’s character and that is (seriously) his BODY TYPE!  I like the fact that we have a hero who is described as not being handsome looking, but still has an extremely muscular body that is able to take down any forces that come up against him and it is this description of Beast that makes me really fall for him!

For those of you who do not like suggestive themes and strong violence, there are some surprisingly violent moments in this book which includes many characters getting their throats slit by the assassins that might be uncomfortable for some readers. 

***SPOILER WARNING!!!***

Also, the fact that Sybella’s family, her brother Julian and d’Abret included, seem to want to get into a sexual relationship with her, despite the fact that they are “related” to each other and that might be a bit upsetting for some readers to handle, especially since it shows that Sybella clearly does not want to engage in such relationships with her brother Julian and d’Albret and they were basically forcing themselves upon her.

***SPOILER ENDED!!!***

Overall, “Dark Triumph” is a truly fantastic sequel to “Grave Mercy” that fans of historical romance and books that deal with assassins will definitely enjoy for many years!  I am definitely looking forward to the third book in the series “Mortal Heart!”

* 2014 Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee

* 2015 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Children's Literature

You might also like:

• Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

• The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas