Lauren Royal – Violet

Apr 25, 2018 | reviews, romance

England, 1673: The Ashcroft family motto is “Question Convention,” and eldest sister Violet agrees with the sentiment completely. For one thing, she’s not planning to marry. Plain Violet is smart enough to realize any suitors would be after her large inheritance, or else interested in her beautiful younger sisters—and she’d much rather spend her time improving her mind than risking her tender heart…

Having wasted six years wooing a lady who eloped with another man, Ford Chase, Viscount Lakefield, has had it with women. Ford would much rather spend his time pursuing the sciences and constructing the first watch with a minute hand. Having his young niece dropped in his lap proves an unwelcome, annoying distraction…until an uncommonly intelligent neighbor named Violet comes to help…

Violet, by Lauren Royal

As I was looking up the book’s info to write up this review, I realized that I have read the first book in the previous series (although I haven’t reviewed it yet). It’s been a whlie so it didn’t meaningfully impact my review of this, but I’m tempted to go back and reread it now that I’ve read this one. Both series are set in England in the mid to late 1600s, a somewhat unusual setting in the historical romance space, and I really enjoyed the variety.

Violet is the eldest of three daughters and thanks to a generous grandfather, has a large enough inheritance that she believes any man who woos her will only be doing so because of that, not because of who she is. It doesn’t help that her younger sister is gorgeous, which only makes her look even more plain in comparison. As a result, she prefers to stick to more intellectual pursuits and plans to someday use her inheritance to publish a book on philosophy.

Ford Chase, on the other hand, is the baby of the Chase family and spends much of his time ensconced in his laboratories. When his intended elopes with another man, possibly because he had made no progress on actually proposing after 6 years, he decides to take a break at his property in the countryside. When he stops at his brother’s house along the way, he ends up in charge of his young niece for over a week. Unfortunately for him, he knows very little about how to handle children. Violet’s appearance is something of a godsend, since he was hoping to have time to work on a design for a new type of watch, but soon she becomes even more distracting than his niece, although for entirely different reasons.

Complicating matters is the fact that his estate is in desperate need of funds, the sort of thing that would require that he marry for money. There’s no way to hide this from Violet either, as the disrepair is obvious, but when she discovers that his creditors are threatening foreclosure, it only solidifies her belief that the only reason he could want to marry her is for her money.

I feel like the side characters made this book work. Violet’s mother in particular was a favorite of mine, although much of that is due to her passion for creating perfumes for her friends. She distills her own essential oils and Ford won me over when he built a distillation column for her to use in her work. Ford’s niece is both charming and impish and it is amusing to watch her wrap her uncle around her little finger. We see somewhat less of Violet’s sisters and Ford’s friend Rand (likely to avoid writing oneself into too many corners!), but I enjoyed the glimpse of the scientists that made up the Royal Society. The Chase family does show up in force toward the end of the book, allowing for visits with some characters from the previous series, but if you haven’t read those books then it just becomes a lot of names to keep track of.

There were a few points where I was a little frustrated with Violet’s insistence that there was no other reason that Ford would want to marry her beyond her money. She chose to ignore any evidence that might suggest otherwise and it made me want to slap her. Even when it seemed like she had made up her mind, she still went back and forth two or three more times before finally committing. The only other complaint I have is that the sex scenes, while well-done, are somewhat disconnected from the story as a whole. This makes more sense when you realize that a “clean and sweet” version of the book has also been published for those who don’t want explicit content in their book and I can’t fault the author for trying to broaden the potential audience, but it’s also kind of obvious when you look at it in retrospect. The story does suffer some as a result.

Anyway, this was an enjoyable read and I liked it well enough that I will probably keep my eye out for either the sequel or the box set. It’s well worth the sale price.

Carrie Ann Ryan – An Alpha’s Choice

Apr 17, 2018 | reviews, romance

Brynn Brentwood has spent the whole of her life protecting the Talon Pack through terrors only she will ever know. She’s never asked for more in life other than to live to take her next breath and to ensure her family is safe. Regardless of her selfless wishes and the atrocities the former Alpha committed, she has always known that fate would provide for her as it had countless others. Fate is what has carried her through with one exception—upon meeting the one wolf who could be hers, he doesn’t feel their bond.

Finn Jamenson has been broken more than once, left beaten and half dead—and that was before he was an adult and Heir of the Redwood Pack. When called upon to work with their allies, the Talons, he finds himself intrigued with a woman who his wolf doesn’t claim as his own. Though he knows there could be something there, he refuses to tempt himself with a wolf who could never be his when his own mate could waiting for him.

The world changed in a blink of time and now the two wolves must fight as one—ignoring the burning temptation between them—when their people are threatened. With one wrong move, their homes could be destroyed and its up to Finn and Brynn to save them all…if only they could save themselves.

An Alpha’s Choice, by Carrie Ann Ryan

I’ll be honest: I probably wouldn’t have read this book if I hadn’t picked up the bundle with the first three books of the Talon Pack series. The first book was solid enough but didn’t leave me desperate for more. Still, inertia is a heck of a thing, and it was easy enough to continue reading when I finished the first book and the second was right there.

We got to know Brynn fairly well in the first book, since she is the dominant female in the Talon Pack. It’s a bit of a strange dichotomy, since that role is normally held by the Alpha female, but Brynn’s brother Gideon is mated to a submissive wolf. Brynn has been happy to support her brother’s mate, even as she continues to struggle with a problem she hasn’t told anyone about: she’s met her mate, but he doesn’t seem to recognize her as his.

Finn Jamenson was nearly killed as a baby during the events of the Redwood Pack series (from what I’m able to tell) and it was only through the immense efforts of the pack healer that he survived. Now he’s a young adult and heir to the Alpha of the Redwood Pack. Still, he can’t understand why Brynn seems to hate him so much. Unfortunately for Brynn, Finn and Brynn are the now-public faces of Packs, a result of their exposure to the world at large during the final battle in the first book. Their job is to appear in public together, trying to convince the world that shifters are just as human as the rest of them.

Predictably, bigotry rears its ugly head and there are several incidents that force them closer together until Brynn can no longer keep it secret from Finn: he is her fated mate. That’s when Finn is forced to confront the truth he’d ignored for years: that while he might have been healed, his bond with his wolf has remained broken. While he can shift, all emotions from his wolf are far more muted than they should be. Now he’s forced to face the reality that if he wants the woman who should be his, he needs to make a terrible decision.

This book was both good and frustrating. The same repetition that I noted in the first book shows up here again, and if anything it feels like reading the story of the Redwood Pack is even more important as backstory here. There are also hints of things in Brynn’s past that are never really explored, which is a personal pet peeve of mine — if you hint at a tragic past, you better have the character discuss it or even think about it in detail so the reader has some idea of what that tragic past is. It felt like it was simply an add-on and not relevant to the story in any way.

On the other hand, I definitely liked Brynn’s take no nonsense attitude and her inner strength. Finn seemed more than ready to be her match and yet was willing to give her the space she needed. It wasn’t simply a case of insta-lust between them. That’s probably what made the issues in the previous paragraph stand out even more to me, because it’s definitely a well-written book. If you’re a fan of the genre, I’d recommend this — but I’d probably also recommend going and starting at the beginning with the Redwood Pack series, because that seems to be pretty important.

Sierra Cartwright – Crave

Apr 10, 2018 | reviews, romance

She still craved him… The sight of a collar in her boyfriend’s drawer had stunned Sarah. Panicking, she had fled. But no other man has ever been his equal.

Two years ago, the woman he’d hoped to collar and marry disappeared. So Reece McRae is stunned to find his former girlfriend on her knees, behaving as the submissive he’d always wanted.

Is it too late? He should refuse her, but an undeniable sexual attraction consumes him.

Sarah had been under Reece’s spell from the moment she met him. When she found a steel collar in his drawer, she panicked. The idea of a lifetime of his relentless demands, sensual and otherwise, suffocated her.

In the years they’ve been apart, she hasn’t met his equal. Now, convinced one last night will vanquish his memory, she sets out to seduce him.

The Reece she returns to is even more determined to have his way. Is she now strong enough, brave enough, to surrender to his love?

Crave, by Sierra Cartwright

While I was on vacation recently, I went back into the land of contemporaries for a, ahem, rather spicy story. This was an interesting read, both because of the power dynamics at play but also because we start the story over two years into the relationship between Reece and Sarah, learning the back story as we go.

The book opens with Sarah begging one of her friends for an invitation to his birthday party. Of course, since he happens to be a billionaire tech company owner, his birthday party is actually an entire weekend on a private island. Sarah wants to go because she needs to see her ex-boyfriend, another one of his friends, and try to get him out of her system. No other method has been successful.

I’m a little shaky on whether this logic actually makes sense, but I’ve happily swallowed much more contrived reasons to have the hero and heroine in a room together in other novels so I’m willing to let it slide. Reece is, predictably, shocked to see Sarah, since he’s had no contact with her since she disappeared on him two years before. Shocked, pissed off, and more than a little attracted to her.

There are a lot of BDSM elements in this book and the power dynamics inherent in a relationship like that are one of the subjects that’s explored over the course of the story. Discovering the collar in his drawer was the reason that Sarah ran in the first place, after all — she had been happy with their relationship but the thought of making that commitment terrified her and she panicked. What I really liked, however, was that there was an exploration of why and how that could happen on the part of both Reece and Sarah. Sarah’s mistake was obvious; she knew and claimed her fault. Reece, on the other hand, hadn’t done the same level of self-examination and it’s Sarah’s reappearance that finally forces him to look at his actions.

The shared fault is one of the things that made me feel like this book reflected two real human beings and the complex relationship that exists between them instead of flat characters on the page, and I really enjoyed it for that reason. The sex scenes didn’t hurt either, of course — this is not a book for you if you dislike explicit kinky sex. If you do, however, this is a great book to read for both some excellent sex scenes and a pair of realistic humans who are trying to rebuild their happily ever after.

Robyn Carr – Virgin River

Apr 3, 2018 | reviews, romance

Wanted: Midwife/nurse practitioner in Virgin River, population six hundred. Make a difference against a backdrop of towering California redwoods and crystal-clear rivers. Rent-free cabin included.

When the recently widowed Melinda Monroe sees this ad, she quickly decides that the remote mountain town of Virgin River might be the perfect place to escape her heartache, and to reenergize the nursing career she loves. But her high hopes are dashed within an hour of arriving: the cabin is a dump, the roads are treacherous and the local doctor wants nothing to do with her. Realizing she’s made a huge mistake, Mel decides to leave town the following morning.

But a tiny baby, abandoned on a front porch, changes her plans…and former marine Jack Sheridan cements them into place.

Virgin River, by Robyn Carr

It’s been a while since my last contemporary romance. I guess in some ways this isn’t really surprising, because I read for escapism. It’s hard to escape when there’s too much of the real world in the book that’s supposed to transport me away to somewhere else. On the other hand, reading a lot – and a lot of different types of books – helps me become a better author, and writing weekly reviews has pushed me out of my comfort zone some.

The Virgin River series has been around for quite a while so in some ways I’m late to the party, but that’s what happens frequently when I’m reading outside of my sub-genre. This is the book that started it all, so at least I know I’m not jumping in partway through the series, which feels like it’s happened far too often recently.

We’re introduced to Virgin River through the eyes of Melinda, our heroine, who moved to the small town in an effort to escape the memories left behind after her husband’s murder in a burglary. It’s a far cry from Los Angeles and conditions are less than optimal when she arrives. The only reason she doesn’t turn around and leave immediately after arrival is the knowledge that she’d just get stuck again on her way out.

Jack runs the local bar, which happens to be the only pace where Mel can get both dinner and a cup of coffee the next morning on her way out of town. It’s very different from serving as a Marine, but he kind of likes the quieter pace of life in Virgin River these days. Still, something about Mel makes him sit up and take notice, and he desperately hopes he can convince her to stay. He doesn’t have much luck until a newborn baby is left abandoned on the front porch, right before Mel can leave. Her professional instincts take over and she agrees to stay, at least until the baby can be settled in a more permanent relationship. That gives him time to get to know her, and Mel time to get to know both him and the town.

What makes this book really shine for me are the characters and how true to life they feel. I live in CA and have driven through my share of small towns in the northern part of this state. Virgin River feels very authentic, from the curvy mountain roads and lack of cell service to the selection of small businesses that pop up in those towns and the air of self-sufficiency they tend to have as a result. I loved learning about some of the more practical aspects of life in a town like that, and the honest assessment of some of the less-fantastic aspects. It’s a slower pace of life and there are some real challenges that take adjusting to, but there are also benefits.

Jack and Mel are the stars, of course, but there’s a wide range of supporting cast members and they all feel real. I know this is the first book in a series but it goes beyond the common feeling of merely introducing the next books’ protagonists. (The most likely candidates for that title hardly have any lines at all.) You’re getting to know the whole town and watching the relationship develop as a slow burn.

There were a few parts that I didn’t like quite as much; some of the conflict between Jack and Mel felt a little forced, and we didn’t necessarily see a lot of Mel dealing with her grief. There was also not an awful lot about who her husband actually was – of all the characters in the book, he was the most one-dimensional and there was no real sense of why Mel fell for him or how that relationship would have lasted. (In some ways, it feels like it wouldn’t have.)

I enjoyed the book overall though, and I would definitely recommend it if you like contemporary books or are curious about life in a small CA town and enjoy three-dimensional characters. I’ll be keeping my eye out for the next one!