Historical Romance

Review: A Fashionable Indulgence by K. J. Charles

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Titlle: A Fashionable Indulgence (Society of Gentlemen #1)
Author: K. J. Charles 
Genre/Themes: Historical, MM romance
Release Date: 11 Aug 2015

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook Group / Goodreads
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My rating: 5 Stars


Synopsis

When he learns that he could be the heir to an unexpected fortune, Harry Vane rejects his past as a Radical fighting for government reform and sets about wooing his lovely cousin. But his heart is captured instead by the most beautiful, chic man he’s ever met: the dandy tasked with instructing him in the manners and style of the ton. Harry’s new station demands conformity—and yet the one thing he desires is a taste of the wrong pair of lips.

After witnessing firsthand the horrors of Waterloo, Julius Norreys sought refuge behind the luxurious facade of the upper crust. Now he concerns himself exclusively with the cut of his coat and the quality of his boots. And yet his protégé is so unblemished by cynicism that he inspires the first flare of genuine desire Julius has felt in years. He cannot protect Harry from the worst excesses of society. But together they can withstand the high price of passion.

Review

This is my first historical mm and my second book by KJ Charles and I can honestly say I was just blown away by the exquisite beauty this story is.

It's a beautifully written, rich and very well research, detailed-oriented story about love and social customs and fashions and politics and intimacies of Regency London.

I loved, loved, loved everything about it. The romance was tender and clever and captivating. Harry and Julius were quite interesting and fascinating on their own but as a couple they were just a joy to read. Theywere total opposites but they fitted so well together and each gave the other of he desperately needed. Ms Charles plays with stereotypes and reader's expectation while developing Harry and Julius' romance - one has all the knowledge of social customs and fashion and war and being a gentleman, yet he is yet a novice when it comes to feelings and matters of the heart. The other is all about openness and sincerity and spontaneity, lacking in socail manners and grace, yet much more experienced in all wordly things. 

I'm all team Harry here with his strong passion, love and loyalty, even sense of social justice. And Norrey was the perfect antidote to all that - darker, somehwat disillusioned, resigned and determined to forsake all adn any feelings. Harry restored his passion, his desire to live, to love, to experience life to the fullest.

The strong political aspect was not a burden as it could so easily be in romance. It complemented the love story adding depth and making it real. The reader felt an immediate participant in the events not just a casual observant.

The social background was essential to understand the conflict and all the tensions in the story and was very convincingly presented -  being gay was not easy at the time; it was just as dangerous as being a seditionist.

Throughout the story Ms Charles skillfully played with the myth of Galatea and Pygmalion and this made it even more enjoyable fr me. 

Recommended read for fans of historical romance! Next book in the Sosciety of Gentlemen series, A Seditious Affair, comes out in December. 

Purchase Links: Amazon / ARe / Publisher

M/M romance

Waiting on Wednesday: Blueberry Boys by Vanessa North

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Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.


Title: Blueberry Boys
Author: Vanessa North
Genre/Themes: MM romance
Release Date: 30 Nov 2015
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Pre-order links: Amazon / Riptide





Synopsis


Connor Graham is a city boy—a celebrated fashion photographer in New York. When his uncle’s death drags him back to the family blueberry farm, all he wants to do is sell it as quickly as he can. Until he meets his uncle’s tenant farmer.

Jed Jones, shy and stammering, devout and dedicated, has always yearned for land of his own and a man to share it with. Kept in the closet by his church, family, and disastrous first love, he longs to be accepted for who he is. But now, with his farm and his future in Connor’s careless hands, he stands to lose even the little he has.

Neither man expects the connection between them. Jed sees Connor—appreciates his art and passion like no one else in this godforsaken town ever has. Connor hears Jed—looks past his stutter to listen to the man inside. The time they share is idyllic, but with the farm sale pending, even their sanctuary is a source of tension. As work, family, and their town’s old-fashioned attitudes pull them apart, they must find a way to reconcile commitments to their careers and to each other.

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Why am I waiting for this? - The blurb sounds sounds so good - tender and cosy, just the type of read I'm in the mood for. I've read two other books by Ms North - Double Up - review (mm sports romance which is quite good) and The Lonely Drop (available for free). Overall I enjoy her writing and I can't wait to read more of her stories. 



Contemporary Romance

Review: A Wish Upon Jasmine by Laura Florand

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Title: A Wish Upon Jasmine (La Vie en Roses #2)
Author: Laura Florand
Genre/Themes: Contemproary romance
Release Date: 1 August 2015

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
My rating: 4 Stars

Add on Goodreads
Synopsis

Ruthless. That was what they said about Damien Rosier. Handsome. Wealthy. Powerful. Merciless. No one messed with his family, because to do so they would have to get through him. No one thought he had a heart. Not even the woman he gave his to.

Cynical. That was what they said about Jasmin Bianchi. A top perfumer of her generation, Jess had achieved commercial success by growing a protective shell over a tender heart. The one time she cracked it open to let Damien in, he crushed it—after a night of unbelievable passion.

Lovers. That one magical night couldn’t survive the harsh light of dawn. When Jess woke up to discover the man in bed beside her had stolen her company, she fled.

Enemies. Now she’s come to the south of France with a threat to his family heritage. If he wants to reclaim both it and the woman who walked away from him, he’s going to have to fight as dirty as only Damien can.

But Jess knows how to fight dirty, too. And these days, she has nothing left to lose.

Certainly not her heart.

Review 

Laura Florand is one my favourite authors and I find her Amour et Chocolate series just delicious! This is book 2 in her new series, La Vie en Rose which take us in the world of high French perfemury. Book 1 was the perfect romance - a fairytale story of love, trust - very sensuos, very beautifully written

This is the story of one of the five cousins in the Rosier family - Damien - the business shark, the ruthless one who always achieves his goals. And the somewhat lonely and lost, perfume maker Jasmine (Jess). On the surface their story was very much similar to Matt and Layla's story from book 1 and it bothered me a lot initially. It felt like we have already been there, we have seen how this develops and comes to a HEA. But then Ms Florand turned things in a new direction.

I loved the cahracter of Damien and how he developed through the story. His internal cononflict was so strong and I could understand him so well. He was constantly battling expectations of everyone in his family had of him and his vision of himself. He felt obliged to perform a certain role in the family and he did it because this was his forte and he loved his family and wanted to care for them. Yet (he thought) they all saw him as ruthless, heartless and in fact he just felt too much, was as emotional and vulnerable as anyone else. He was a romantic at heart trying to do the right thing for everybody no matter what it cost him. There was so much going on with him.

Damien and Jasmine had had an affair/one-night stand before that ended in a lot of hurt and misunderstanding. I was not a big fan of basing the conflict of the story on miscommuniation though it was fitting to the characters, at least for Damien. Jasmine family situaiton aslo very much explained her distrust and jumping to conclusions. None of them had an easy time opening up about their true emotions, both were scared of revealing too much.

The process of perfume making had an improtant role in the story and I loved how the author used this metaphore to explore the characters' inner worlds.

Overall, this is another additon to a fabulous new series by a favourite author. A recommended read for fans of romance - sensual, powerful, life-changing!

Purchase Links: Amazon / B&N / iTunes / Kobo

Blog Tour

Excerpt Tour for Dirty Talking by Megan Erickson

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Synopsis


When the one you shouldn't want is the one you can't resist...


Brent Payton works hard, plays hard, and has earned his ladies’ man reputation. But he’s more than just a good time, even though no one seems to see it. Until a gorgeous brunette with knockout curves and big, thoughtful eyes walks into his family’s garage and makes Brent want more.
Ivy Dawn and her sister are done with men, all of them. They’ve uprooted their lives too many times on account of the opposite sex, but that’s over now. The plan seems easy until a sexy, dirty-taking mechanic bursts in Ivy’s life and shakes everything up.
Brent can’t resist the one person who sees past his devil-may-care façade, and Ivy finds it harder and harder to deny how happy he makes her. But she has secrets of her own and when the truth comes out, she must decide if she’ll run again or if she’ll take a chance on forever.



Author Bio and Links:

Megan worked as a journalist covering real-life dramas before she decided she liked writing her own endings better and switched to fiction. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats. When she's not tapping away on her laptop, she's probably listening to the characters in her head who won't stop talking.
Brent leaned back in his chair, feet up on the table and crossed at the ankle. He held a packet of peanuts and tipped it so a couple fell into his mouth. He chewed, steel eyes on her.


Excerpt


She clenched her jaw shut.
He swallowed. “You looked like you were going to say something.”
“Sure I was. To Alex. But you’re not Alex.”
“No, I’m not. But I’m a great listener.”
“I’m sure,” she said drily.
His lips quirked. “Want to hear about what other things I’m good at?”
“Not particularly.”
“Because I can do this thing with my tongue—”
Good God. “I don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?”
She waved a hand between them. “This. Flirting.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Babe, I haven’t even begun to flirt.”
She took a deep breath to calm her rising blood pressure. “Don’t do that either.”
“Jesus! Now what?” His exasperation might have been cute if she still had a heart.
“Nicknames.”
“Babe?”
“My name is Ivy. I-V-Y. Three letters. Two syllables.” Even she wanted to cringe at how much of a bitch she was being.
He was studying her now, his face a little less amused and more . . . thoughtful. She didn’t like thoughtful Brent. Amused, flirting Brent? Harmless. Thoughtful Brent, who tried to look deeper? Dangerous as hell.
He ran two fingers over his lips and then dropped his hand to the table, cocking his head. “You’re just thorns everywhere I touch, aren’t you?”
She froze at his words, like a deer in headlights because yes—yes, she was a whole lot of thorns because she’d learned long ago they were necessary to protect all her soft parts.
Brent wasn’t done, though; his voice was softer when he spoke again. “You born that way, or something make you that way, Ivy?”
She swallowed. Yep, Brent Payton was dangerous in a sexy-as-hell package. His words were seeping past those thorns, hitting all the spots where she was weak. So she gathered herself and clenched her fists at her sides. “You’re just acting like this because I’m the first woman who hasn’t fallen at your feet.”
He laughed at that. “Fallen at my feet? Nah, there are plenty of women who’ve told me to go to hell. My percentage is good, though. Maybe eighty-twenty.” He grinned that shit-eating grin. “But you got me curious now. I wanna keeping prodding until I find a place that isn’t a thorn. How long do you think that’ll take me?”
Shit, no; that’s exactly what she didn’t want. With those eyes that were smart and trouble at the same time.
She swallowed and straightened her spine. “You’ll never get close enough.”
He cocked his head. “No?”
“No.”
He hummed a little and leaned back in his chair again. He threw a peanut in the air and caught it in his mouth. Then he chewed, with those steel eyes daring her to look away. “Guess I gotta plan my attack better next time, huh? You better work on those defenses.”
She heard Alex’s voice as her sister made her way back to the lunchroom. Ivy smiled and lifted her chin. “Who says I’ll be the one who needs defense?”
He laughed sharply, like he was surprised. “Oh, babe, bring it.”
She gritted her teeth. “Ivy.”
“Babe. I call it as I see it, and you’re definitely babe.”



Giveaway


Dystopia

Waiting on Wednesday for Claimed by Elle Kennedy

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Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

Title: Claimed (Outlaws #1)
Author: Elle Kennedy
Genre/Themes: Dystopia, erotic romance
Release Date: 6 Oct 2015
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Pre-order links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iBooks





Synopsis


After a devastating war decimated most of the world, Hudson Lane has only known the oppressive life under her own father’s tyranny. She finally escapes, branding herself an outlaw and hunted by the Enforcers. Her best chance at survival is Connor Mackenzie, an aggressively sensual fugitive who opens her eyes to the wicked possibilities of a world without rules.

As the leader of a band of outlaw fighters, Connor can’t resist the beautiful stranger who asks for his protection. Despite his reservations, he agrees to introduce her to a whole new way of life. But when Connor discovers Hudson’s connection to the enemies of liberty, he wonders how far he can trust the woman who has abandoned all inhibitions to challenge every forbidden desire.

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Why am I waiting for this? - I've only read the Off Campus series by Ms Kennedy which is contemporary NA college sports romances but I liked her writing and would like to try more of it. This is book 1 in new dystopian erotic romance series and I haven't read anything like that before and find the blurb rather intriguing. Plus that cover, who can resist a cover like that? :)


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