Never Love a Highlander by Maya Banks

Caelen McCabe's young reckless heart nearly destroyed his clan. Now, putting family loyalty above all else, he steps up to marry his older brother's jilted bride and salvage the uneasy alliance between two clans. While beautiful Rionna McDonald is a fit wife for any man, Caelen trust no woman, especially not this sweet temptress who torments him with white-hot longing.

As the sacrificial lamb in her father's power game, Rionna will do her duty but vows to protect her heart and pride from humiliation. Despite everything, though,the heat in Caelen's touch melts her defenses, and she craves the sensual delights of a husband who guards his emotions as fiercely as his clan. But when the ultimate battle for the McCabe legacy is upon them, Rionna's true warrior spirit emerges. She will rick the wrath of her father, the fury of her enemies, and her life to prove to Carlen that his wife's love is too precious to lose.

This is the third and last book in Maya Banks Highland trilogy, and let me tell you t was as good as the other two books. I cannot say that I had a favorite in this series because I loved all three books. And as with the other two books I finished this one in one day.

Caelen is a man who swore he would never marry after he was betrayed by a women he thought he loved. But to help out his brother and the clan he agrees to marry Rionna after his other brother, who was supposed to marry her, married someone else.

Rionna really doesn't want to get married but knows she really has no choice. She has to do what is best for the clan. Rionna is not your typical Lady, she likes to dress like a man and knows how to protect herself with a sword. Caelen wants to change this and make her into the lady of the keep.

At first Rionna really does try to do this and to make Caelen happy. Even though she is very unsure of herself in this role. She has always acted more like a man and she has reasons for this action. When somethings happens to her she and Caelen get into a disagreement over things and he finally lets her have her sword back and says he will train with her.

The love and trust for these two people grow slowly, yes they have a sexual attraction but the rest builds slowly. I got a little upset when Caelen tries to change Rionna, I hate that men can't let the women be who she is and wants to change her. Rionna really tries to make Caelen proud of her but knows that is not her true self.

The ending of this book is wonderful. Rionna does something that could really make Caelen hate her, but he knows more is going on and trusts her. He relizes that not all women were like his first love.

I loved all three of these books and hate to see the series end. Ms Banks does such a good job and thoroughly enjoyed the series.

A fun factoid for you..

This has nothing to do with books, but thought it would be a fun way to start your week!  Read the last sentence - more weekends to read!!!

This is a unique year from a numbers perspective. We have unusual dates: 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11.

If you take the last two digits of the year that you were born and add the age that you will be this year, the result will be 111. No matter when you were born. Amazing!  

This happens only once every 823 years.

Not only that but also this year October will have 5 Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays!  

The Virtuoso by Grace Burrowes

A man whose passion has failed him..... Lord Valentine Windham is devastated when a injury makes it impossible for him to play the piano. Val's music was his greatest expression and also his salvation from the pressures of society and his imperious father. Grief, loss and loneliness threaten to overwhelm him until he meets a beautiful young widow whose troubles are even deeper then his own.

Wow, what a book. For those of you waiting for Val's book you won't be disappointed. You feel for Val when he finds out that he shouldn't play the piano until or even if his hand heals. You see the piano is who Val is. It has gotten he over the grief of his two brothers death, it helped his one brother when he came back from the war, it is just who Val is, he has music running through his head all the time. He has no idea how to live his life without his piano.

Ellen is a widow who now lives on the property that Val won in a card game. This estate needs a lot of help and Val thinks it will help him get over the loss of not being able to play the piano, he works very hard at putting this estate back to it's former glory. Ellen is a widow and lives on the estate and sells flowers and other things to the locals, she makes a very nice living but Val finds out that she should be doing a heck of a lot better then she does. You see this was her dowager estate given to her by her husband when he passed. Although she has not taken care of it and all of the money from the rentals are gone. Val is determined to find out why.

I really enjoyed how the two took it slow and built up to there relationship, they just didn't jump into bed. She gives him a hard time about his hand telling him he should rest it and not use it all the time. He slowly realizes that she is right.

I loved the supporting characters in this book, you can tell that they really care for Val and only want the best for him. You have one part when Dev tells Val that without his music he wasn't sure he ever would of been able to be normal again. When sits down and talks with his father, and his dad tells him he always acted liked he did around him brings tears to your eyes. And the ending was just outstanding.

This book will have you laughing and crying and wanting more. I really didn't want it to end. I loved these men and how they all acted together, none of them were afraid to show they cared for each. You just don;t see that very often. Ms Burrows has become a auto buy author for me and I will not be missing her next book.

I received this ARC from my Romance Group. The book comes out in November.

A Home By The Sea, by Christina Skye

Rating:  A, warm
Grace Lindstrom has followed her fiancé across three continents, starry-eyed and full of dreams. But when he dies in a plane crash, Grace discovers that their life together was the cruelest kind of lie—and swears to never lose herself to that kind of love again. Until one night, when a chance encounter leads her to the kind of man she's always dreamed of—and the deep family ties she's never known.

Noah McLeod knows he can't offer Grace any kind of future—not when he spends every day putting his life on the line. But when Grace's grandfather suddenly falls ill and she's called home to the small island town where she grew up, he realizes he can't live without her. Aided by good knitting, good chocolate and deep friendship, Grace is slowly learning to trust again—but can she learn to love a man whose secrets run so deep?

Noah McLeod is a bomb disposal expert, who pretty much lives day to day, knowing the next bomb he has to disarm could mean the end for him.  Noah’s brother Matt was a DC police offer who recently was killed in the line of duty. His family is struggling to come to terms with his death.  Grace Lindstrom is a historical food researcher, who has just stumbled upon a mama cat with 3 kittens and a new born puppy, left to die by a dumpster.  Noah happens by, headed for his car after a long day at work, spies Grace in the snow dressed in formal clothing and sandals, and goes to assist her with the animals.  Noah’s heart literally goes boom when he meets Grace. 

Since a bad snowstorm is upon them, he gets his Jeep and they head to his family’s home which is close by. Grace is overwhelmed by Noah’s wonderful family.  It’s what she always dreamed a family should be like, and never having one of her own, she enjoys her time spent with them.  Noah’s mom Tatiana and dad Alex are truly wonderful people, and are more than willing to assist with the stranded pets.  Tatiana and Grace really hit it off, with their shared love of knitting.  Grace purchases some things for Tatiana to start a new project, while Noah picks the colors, hoping the knitting will help take her mind off son Matt.

Grace had a fiancé who was killed in a plane crash.  After he passed away, Grace found out that they had been living a huge lie.  He had many other women, along with one who was pregnant with his child.  Grace literally had the rug pulled out from under her when she found out the extent of his cheating.  Needless to say, she is not a very trusting person anymore and is afraid to risk losing her heart again. She buries herself in her work, and has applied for a project that would put her in the White House, working on historical foods, and recipes’ with other famous chefs. Grace is on cloud nine, celebrating with Noah when a call comes in that her beloved grandfather has been in a serious accident in Summer Island, Oregon. 

Grace gets back to Summer Island as quickly as possible, where she finds Gramps in a coma.     Her friends Cara and Jill are both there for her. Cara is having a baby and is due in a few weeks, and Jill is working on some new menu items. They purchased the old Harbor House, and plan to turn it in to a knitting shop and café.  Grace decided that Summer Island is where she needs to be, so she tells the folks in DC that she is unable to take the wonderful position offered her, due to a family emergency.  Grace jumps right in with her longtime friends in their new business at Harbor House. 

With Grace in Summer Island,  it doesn’t take Noah long to come to the conclusion that he has met the woman of his dreams.  Noah takes time off work and heads out to Oregon.  Their love really grows once they are together again, and Grace gets beyond her mindset of not becoming attached to a man again.  Grandfather is slowly getting better. He runs a huge animal rescue business near his veterinarian practice, where he will certainly need her help once he is out of the hospital.  Noah pops the question, after an earthquake does some damage in the Summer Harbor area.  They vow to be together, if they can just get past the next couple of challenging months that lay before them. 

The end comes with some unsolved issues, which I am sure will be addressed in the next book, since we know this is a series.  I particularly enjoyed the characters, the pets, the locale of Summer Island and the plans for Harbor House, which now is up in the air after the quake.  Another thing I loved is how Christina Skye works the hobby of knitting in to the story.  I have cross stitched for many years, and can never find the right works to tell others that stitching is my passion, and how it serves as a tranquilizer to calm me down.  Just running your fingers over new hand dyed threads sends a warm satisfaction through me, and dreaming about what the creation will look like when I am done. It’s simply nirvana for me to stitch, and I am sure those of you that have a  love for any of the needle arts would agree.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane

Meriel Owen, next in line to control the largest organization of witches in the country, is asked to investigate the owner of a notorious club reportedly siphoning magick from the font of the Clan. It's a direct violation of the Clan Code of Conduct, but one look at Dominic Bright and Meriel's willing to make a deal. One taste of the sexually feral outlaw witch and she is eager to go further:He's her bond mate, a legal conduit into the world of Clan witches and their magick.

Playing by the rules isn't Dominic's style, but bonding with Meriel--night after explosive night--is. However, Meriel has unwittingly invited someone else into her world: Dominic's mother, a dangerous and poisonously influential magik addict whose lust for death and power corrupts all she touches. Now her shadow is closing in on Meriel, her Clan and the man Meriel loves, and it is casting them all into the inescapable heart of darkness.

This is the first book of Ms. Dane's Bound by Magick series and it does get you off on a wild ride. She spends time in setting up this world. You have a difference in magic and magik, you also have shifters, have to say I can't wait for Simon's book he's hot!!! But you also have vampires and mages. Most of the witches are part of a Clan and obey the rules, you do have some witches who live outside the clan and they are not as powerful. You also have witches that have turned and they are the really bad ones along with the mages, because they steal power from other witches.

Meriel is a very strong kick ass girl. She will be taking over the Clan when her mother retries, but in her own right she is very powerful. Dominic has been raised outside of a clan and really doesn't want to become part of one. When Meriel walks into his nightclub, because he is stealing power from the clan, they have a instant connection. It turns out that Dominic is Meriel's bond mate. Being a bond mate can mean a couple of things in this book. You can be a bond magik mat and that just makes your magik stronger or you can be true bond mates. Dominic is Meriel's true bond mate. All I can say is that they are very hot together!!

I liked the fact that Meriel didn't push Dominic to become part of the Clan or to become her mate until he was ready. She stood by him and gave him the room he needed when he found out the truth about his mother. I mean she is one bad lady!! You do have a lot going on in this book and you can tell she is setting you up for a series. Which I think is only going to better as it goes on.

Really loved all the supporting characters in this book and can't wait to read more about them. I liked how Meriel and Dominic fit together, they were a great couple. I also loved the friendship between Meriel and her friend Nell. AS I said I see this series only getting better as more books come out.

This book come out on November 1st and I received the ARC through my romance group.

Happy Monday!

Hi!

I know it's been a while since I posted -- shame on me.

I thought I would let everyone know what I've read recently.

Rosemary Rogers has been a an auto-buy for me since I read Sweet Savage Love back in the 70's. Her style of writing has changed and I have to admit that I sorta miss her over the top Alpha hero. Her latest book Bride For A Night doesn't disappoint me. I love an alpha hero who fights his feelings for the heroine and when he falls he falls. Even though the hero's brother starts out as a real a$$ he does redeem himself at the end of the book and I would love to see a story on him.

Night After Night by Janelle Denison -- holy cannoli Batman -- this is the second book her her Reliance Group series. We meet Sean an ex-grifter now working undercover as a bartender at a casino run by the head of the Reliance Group. Because Sean's father had a connection to Zoe's father his job is to investigate Grant Russo who allegedly scammed investors of millions in a real estate sting. Sean wants revenge -- Grant's testimony sent Sean's father to jail for a Ponzi scheme. We have two characters who must overcome their insecurities -- Zoe to learn to trust men again and realizing that her father is not perfect and Sean learning to forgive himself for leading the type he lead before he too went to jail. There is a secondary story between Zoe's best friend Jessica a pop singer and her high school boyfriend Noah. Noah has never forgiven or forgotten Jessica and I thought it was touching the way that Noah got Jessica to open up on why she left him the way she did and both of them realizing that their love never died.

I've also been on a Harlequin Blaze kick -- I've read Model Marine by Candace Havens -- loved it and The Survivor by Rhonda Nelson.

Have a good week everyone!

Night Moves by Stephanie Tyler

Kell Roberts has walked the thin line between life and death for so long that it now feels like home. He is a soldier, a survivor, and a loner. Still, Kell cannot turn his back on a beautiful woman caught in his firefight against the drug lords of Mexico. She says her name is Teddie, but Kell senses that there's much more to her story and it's about to pull him into a mission he didn't sign on for: keeping her alive.

Teddie Lassiter knows that this lean, mean rescuer just saved her life, but the steel glint behind those soft gray eyes seems to be hiding something deep. The men after Teddie are deadly, but the man who holds her life in her hands and tempts her with his wicked touches even more dangerous. He could make her dream about living and loving again. And if they can survive, maybe, just ,maybe, they can stop fighting the world and each other and simply surrender.

This is book four in the Shadow Force series. The book is about Kell, but Reid is also a part of the book, Ms. Tyler also brings in the other characters from the past books. Kell has some issues, he still feels very guilty as to what happened to his team in the last book. Reid is still upset with him for taking off and feels that Kell still has some major guilt issues. This is the first mission that they have worked on since the last one went so wrong.

Teddie, has been in the Witness protection program since her family was killed and she saw the people who commit the crime. She is bound and determined to make the people responsible pay for what they did. The only issue is they think her father was a bad guy and it really seems that they are not activity persuading things so she takes things into her own hands.

She meets up with Kell and Reid as they are about to take out some major bad guys in Mexico and she is being chased by some bad guys. Kell knocks her down and ends up saving her life. Teddie at first is so unsure about these two men, but realizes if she wants to live she is going have to trust them.

You have a lot going on in this book, not only do you have the Marshall's and bad guys looking for Teddie, Kell and Reid have a very bad guy form Dylan's past wreaking havoc on everything. But Ms. Tyler brings everything together very nicely and the ending leaves you wondering if she is going to write another Shadow Force book about Reid and Grier (she is the US Marshall after Teddie) I would love to see that book!! Reid really needs his own HEA.

Night Moves comes out in November and received this book through my romance group.

Hide From Evil by Jami Alden

Sean Flynn should feel lucky he's alive. But a betrayal by a close friend-and two years on death row-has left him feeling only numb. When his conviction was overturned, Sean retreated to a quiet woodland cabin,far away from prying eyes. There, he believed the past couldn't come back to haunt him......until she showed up.

Overcome with guilt, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Krista Slater can't forgive herself for convicting an innocent man. But when another brutal murder reveals chilling, new facts about this case, she must turn to Sean for help. She's ready to face his anger, but the desire in his eyes ignites a need she's never felt before. Shadowed by danger, Sean and Krista uncover a twisted maze of deception and betrayal-all under the dangerous gaze of a cunning mastermind who will do whatever it takes to keep his evil secrets safe.

All I can say is OH WOW!!! What a book!!! I loved Sean and boy does he have some issues. But, you can't blame the poor man after spending two years on death row. You really have some compassion for him, and if you read the first book Beg For Mercy, you really understand him. Ms Alden does a wonderful job on Sean, you get his emotions and you really feel for him.

Krista still feels very bad that she put the wrong the man in jail and feels there is more to the story then what was told. Boy, is she right about that. She hires a Private Investigator to look into some more things and finds a few things that are not right. She goes to her boss and he tells her to leave it alone.

Well, Krista in not the type of person who can leave something alone. She goes to Sean and imagine his surprise when he sees who is knocking on his door, the last person he ever wants to see. And to make mater worse the one person who makes his libido start working after three long years. He says no to helping Krista at first, but gets drawn into the whole thing when somebody tries to kill them.

I really enjoyed this book. Sean is so well written and you really do get a feel for all of the things he went through. Krista is a perfect match for him , they are very good together. I loved it that every time they had to do something illegal he would tell her sometimes you have to be bad, to be good. The love scenes are well done in this book and Sean and Krista are a great couple.

You do know who the bad guy is in the book, but it doesn't take away from the story at all. I will say make sure that you read Beg For Mercy first or you could be a little lost. Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought it was very well done. Can't wait for the next book Run From Fear to come out.

I got this book from my Romance group and the author herself. Sure am glad she thought of me!!!!! Thanks Jami!!

What's on your reading list?

Can you believe that it’s already October? If my kids were still little, we would be knee deep in costumes, picking out the perfect candy treats to hand out, and  trying to convince them that no, the dogs really don’t want to go trick or treating!  In honor of fall, I gave the blog a new look, and thought it would be fun to do a post about what we want to read, rather than what we have read.

So, in honor of fall, along with a little *sniffle* now that the kids are away at college, all I need to focus on at the moment is what will be the next book I pick up. Yeah, it’s a tough thing to do, I know!  These past few months have been reading heaven! So many great new books have come out that it’s hard to decide what I will read next. Honestly, with the chilly nights, it’s so nice to curl up with a nice fuzzy blanket or a dog, and read to my hearts’content.

What new books have gotten your attention? First off for me is the new JD Robb, New York to Dallas. I plan to devote a few days this week just on this book. Another fellow reader over on the RT Boards suggested romantic suspense by Terry Odell, so I managed to lay my hands on four of her books that I plan to get at soon. Bella Riley,aka: Bella Andre, has a new book out entitled Home Sweet Home that kicks off her Emerald Lake series. Other favorites that I have waiting for me are by authors Linda Howard, Susan Mallery, Jane Graves, Marie Force, Janelle Denison, Shannon McKenna, Cherry Adair, Maya Banks, Louisa Edwards, and Christy Reece to name a few.

Seriously, reading wise these have been some of the best new release months in recent memory! What books have caught your eye, and are waiting for you to pick them up?

Hi Everyone! It's me Danielle -- I'm looking forward to reading Bride For A Night by Rosemary Rogers. I can't wait to read Diana Palmer's new book Wyoming Tough, Night after Night by Janelle Dennison, Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis, Holly Lane by Toni Blake and Because of You by new author Jessica Scott. And when Scandalous Desires comes out by Elizabeth Hoyt I won't be answering the phone or making dinner that day.