Untameable Rogue by Kelly Hunter (The Bennetts, Book 4)
If you can overlook the daggy warrior references and underutilised Asian setting, there’s enough depth in the central relationship to make this book a pleasure to read. If you enjoy the daggy stuff…well, that just makes it even better.
This was my first Kelly Hunter book, but it won’t be my last. I don’t care what anyone says about the super daggy Karate Kid-style set up at the beginning of the novel, or the constant references to Chinese zodiac signs (I am the warrior tiger, hear me roar!), this book was thrilling!
From the outside, Madeline Delacourte seems a bit…suss. Her late husband plucks a much younger wife off the streets of Jakarta, and she later inherits and now runs his multi-million-dollar business. But like all Mills and Boon trophy wives, Maddy has a heart of gold. She rescues stray kids from the streets and brings them to her friend Jacob’s dojo to become his apprentice.
As she drops off her latest street kid, she meets Jacob’s brother Luke, who’s in between missions. Luke is a bomb disposal expert and he’s quick to judge Maddy, who doesn’t rise to the bait because, frankly, she’s heard it all before.
Read the rest of this post.
In keeping with Aussie Author Appreciation Month, this Mixed Bag features local authors whose work we haven’t previously reviewed on Book Thingo.
Their Newborn Gift by Nikki Logan
Their Newborn Gift by Nikki Logan (Australian edition)
Lea Curran’s one-night stand with rodeo star Reilly Martin resulted in a baby he never knew about. But four-year old Molly’s only chance to live a normal life may rest with cord blood from a close genetic match. Lea will do anything to save her daughter, including sleep with Reilly again to conceive another child. But first she has to tell him about his daughter.
The complications in this story make for dramatic conflicts, and the first twist totally threw me. Nikki Logan doesn’t let up on the angst, and with a terminally ill child involved, this book is guaranteed to be a tear-jerker. Luckily, it’s a romance. With an epilogue!
Reilly starts off acting like ye olde heartless hero bent on revenge for Lea leaving him after one night—‘as cheap as a motel television’—and not telling him about the baby.
…in all her planning and visualisation it had never occurred to her he would care about the baby that would result, let alone want it. The paradigm she was working from was five years out of date: Reilly Martin, king of the circuit; lover of women; drinker of beer.
Read the rest of this post.
Once Upon a Mattress by Kathleen O'Reilly
An endearing heroine makes up for an underwhelming hero in this fun, sexy story.
This novel revolves around Ben MacAllister, whose family owns MacAllister Beds, a mattress company, and Hilary Sinclair, who’s an executive at the firm. Let’s get my biases out of the way: every time I’m reminded of the mattress company—which is most of the time—I think of those dodgy Captain Snooze ads. Sexiness factor: zero.
Moving on.
Ben’s parents are in the middle of getting divorced, so he’s home to help out with the family business: ‘He’d never cared much about the company; his family was the reason he was here instead of completing number thirty-seven on his “list of things to do before I die”.’ But when his dad starts talking about selling the firm, Ben is determined to prove he has what it takes to keep the business in the family.
Hilary is getting over a seven-year relationship that went nowhere. She’s in a new city, having bought a charming new place (read: needs work), and the job at MacAllister Beds is a chance to prove she make it on her own two feet.
Read the rest of this post.
Just Kiss Me by Kathleen O'Reilly
This hero-centric story is a little darker than O’Reilly’s previous novels, but with enough room to display the sexy humour I so love in her work.
The set-up of this novel is a little convoluted. Amanda Sedgewick is desperate to discourage the attentions of Avery Barrington, so she turns to his brother, Joe, to act as a decoy. When it becomes clear that Avery just won’t get the hint, Joe reluctantly agrees to help. Little does he know that Amanda’s always been, well, interested in him—but it doesn’t take him long to figure it out.
Meanwhile, Joe has feelings of inadequacy, having lived in his brother’s shadow all his life, and he can’t quite convince himself that he can give Amanda everything she needs.
The story is a little darker than O’Reilly’s previous novels, but there’s enough room to display the sexy humour I so love in her work.
Read the rest of this post.
A Snowball's Chance by Nikki Rivers/A Christmas Carol by Kathleen O'Reilly
This humorous, sexy friends-to-lovers romantic comedy is an excellent debut in category romance.
I love the friends-to-lovers theme in romance, especially in category novels. During my deepest Mills & Boon addiction, this was my absolute favourite type of couple. Probably it was because I was in high school at the time.
Unlike your typical friends-to-lovers pairing, the couple in Kathleen O’Reilly’s first category romance don’t suffer from a lust imbalance (where one person has always harboured a secret crush on the other). Carol Martin has been best friends with Mike Fitzgerald since they were kids. Strictly platonic. She’s looking for someone more sophisticated; he’s not willing to risk the wrath of her mother by so much as thinking inappropriate thoughts.
But all it takes are some suggestive comments from Carol’s Aunt Eleanor to get those thoughts going. And once lust gets in the way of their friendship, Carol and Mike have to sort out what they’re willing to live with … and whom they can live without.
Read the rest of this post.
This month’s Mixed Bag features wildly different stories by Aussie authors, which have left me with…well, mixed reactions.
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Micah Williams is a compulsive liar, and Liar is Michah’s attempt ‘to tell you my story…No lies, no omissions. That’s my promise.’ Zach, Micah’s friend, has gone missing and Micah’s story is a non-linear narration of events leading up to and following from Zach’s disappearance, interspersed with her family history.
You may have heard of this book due to the US cover controversy (a non-issue for Aussie readers because we got a different cover), but it’s just as likely you’ve heard of it from the many great reviews it’s received. The praise is well deserved. Larbalestier has created an original and compelling if notoriously unreliable narrator in Micah—something the story depends on for its success.
If you know me at all, you know I almost always peek at a book’s ending. I have no problem with spoilers
Read the rest of this post.
Courting Disaster by Kathleen O'Reilly (Southern Legacies: The Prestons, Book 6)
A virgin country singer paired with a playboy race car driver hero could’ve been a recipe for disaster, but Kathleen O’Reilly writes some of the best couple dynamics I’ve read in a category romance.
Courting Disaster is the sixth book in the Southern Legacies series, and this is painfully obvious in the first few chapters. The only mildly interesting event in the first 40 pages is a parking accident, which sets up the meeting between playboy race-car driver Demetri Lucas, a close friend of the Prestons, and country-and-western singer Elizabeth Innis, who’s part of the Prestons’ extended family.
Once O’Reilly gets through the series continuity info dump, the book picks up the pace and we’re treated to a romance that’s both somewhat traditional and yet unpredictable.
Old-fashioned romance with modern sensibilities
Elizabeth is a famous singer whose virginal reputation is part of her “brand”, if you will. O’Reilly gives her a back story in which this is plausible if not entirely believable.
Read the rest of this post.
The Santangeli Marriage by Sara Craven (HMB Sexy)
Thanks to Sara Craven, I’ve rediscovered my love for the Harlequin Mills & Boon Sexy line. Yes, her heroes can be a little overbearing, and her heroines can be a tad wimpy, but for the most part, they’re likeable. They’re flawed, they’re sometimes lacking in self-awareness, but they work through their issues through the book, and I’m cheering for them all the way.
Not to mention, her books make me cry. Every single one of them. Don’t read them at 3am because you’ll wake up with puffy eyes that no amount of caffeine can erase.
The Santangeli Marriage uses a common HMB Sexy plot. Marisa and Lorenzo’s marriage was arranged by their families, but through a series of misunderstandings on both their parts, they got off to a pretty horrible start and have been living apart for the past 8 months. When Renzo’s father falls ill and asks him to work on repairing his relationship with his wife, Renzo decides it’s time for him to try and woo Marisa—properly this time, to make up for the hash he made of it during their honeymoon. Marisa’s shocked when she comes home to find Renzo waiting for her, and although she wants to end the marriage,
Read the rest of this post.
The New Man by Janice Kay Johnson (Super Romance)
The New Man by Janice Kay Johnson isn’t my cup of Super Romance, but there’s a gentless in the story which may appeal to other readers.
Helen Schaefer lost her husband after a long illness and she’s wary of getting involved with Alec Fraser. She’s had enough of loss and is unwilling to let herself be vulnerable to that kind of grief again. Alec is a widower and knows all too well the devastating grief of losing a spouse. And while he’s open to starting a new relationship, he has his own issues to sort out with his family—particularly his son, Devlin.
The pace of this novel was too slow for me. Johnson fleshes out Helen’s character beyond the romance, but for the most part, I found those bits boring. More interesting is Alec’s home life and his struggle to communicate with Devlin. Johnson evokes the love, frustration and helplessness Alec feels when his efforts fail repeatedly, and his family situation comes across as real and honest. Disappointingly, the resolution of his conflict with Devlin is much too abrupt.
Read the rest of this post.
John Riley's Girl by Inglath Cooper (Super Romance)
Back in high school, Harlequin Mills & Boon Super Romance was my particular brand of crack. I loved these books. I inhaled them, and even though I’d occasionally dabble in Blaze or Temptation, I always came back to Super Romance. John Riley’s Girl by Inglath Cooper took me back to those days of pretending to listen to our Spanish teacher while surreptitiously reading a romance book hidden behind a stack of textbooks. That said teacher was a nun only made it more daring. We bookworms can be rebels, too.
Olivia Ashford hasn’t been back to her hometown in fifteen years after a deeply painful event in her childhood. But a phone call from an old friend stirs up memories and curiosity, and on a whim she decides to return for her high school reunion. Olivia hopes that her visit to Summerville will help her find closure to old wounds. But John Riley, her high school sweetheart, isn’t willing to forget–much less forgive–the fact that Olivia abandoned him without so much as a goodbye. So when the reunion ends up being held at his farm, there’s no way to avoid the confrontation between them.
From the very first chapter, it’s obvious that there’s a huge misunderstanding
Read the rest of this post.
