The Heiress by Lynsay Sands

Hey everyone,

When I first got into romance books Lynsay Sands was one of my favourite authors. I adored her books for their light-hearted, fast-paced plot-lines. Still to this day if I see a Lynsay Sands novel my first instinct is to buy it, and when I saw The Heiress in Waterstones it was no different.

The book:

Suzette is not like other heiresses; she wants a poor husband, a gentleman who will be so grateful for her dowry that he will allow her access to it so that she can pay off her father's gambling debts. When this alluring beauty encounters Daniel Woodrow—handsome, titled, single . . . and even more impoverished than she could have hoped for—it seems Suzette's wildest dreams have come true.

But Daniel has not been truthful. Tired of being accosted by an endless stream of vapid coquettes and their fortune-hunting mothers, Daniel has decided to plead poverty to stop them in their tracks. Yet here is a most refreshing and delectable lady, who claims to be thrilled by his penury. Now all Daniel has to do to find true happiness is to keep a little white lie alive . . . while avoiding a villain who's determined to prevent this union by any means necessary.

My thoughts:

The Heiress is the second book in Lynsay Sand’s Madison Sisters series and honestly I think it suffered from middle-child syndrome. It wasn’t a bad book and I certainly didn’t hate reading it, but I also wasn’t grabbed by it. Nothing in particular stood out and made me want to keep reading about Suzette and Daniel. Everything just fell a little flat.

Suzette was different, her responses were honest, her need real not feigned to jolly the exercises along, and that passion in her had called out to his own.

Melting Point by Kate Meader

Hey everyone,

As soon as Kate Meader introduced Gage and Brady in Flirting with Fire I was really hoping that would get their own book. The amount of chemistry they had in the first book made me so excited to start reading Melting Point!

The book:

Firefighter Gage Simpson has it all: the job of his dreams, the family of his heart, and no shortage of hot guys lining up to share his bed. “Fun and easy” is his motto—and it’s kept him sunny through a painful upbringing and steered him away from trouble. But when trouble comes knocking in the form of a sexy, scarred, tattooed chef with a harrowing past and zero communication skills, Gage can’t help but be drawn to the flame.

Brady Smith isn’t fun. And easy isn’t in his vocabulary. When cocky Gage swaggers into his restaurant kitchen, the former Marine-turned-five-star-chef is blindsided by the firefighter’s beauty. Then confused that this golden guy with the sparkling blue eyes and the body of a god might be interested in him. As desire flares and temperatures rise, Gage and Brady will have to figure out if the heat between them is just a temporary flash—or the beginning of something real.

My thoughts:

I have to admit I love damaged heroes. I love them for there complexity and the fact they can only expose their vulnerabilities to that one person. The one person they can trust never to hurt them again. Kate Meader did a fantastic job of making Brady one of those heroes. He’s a good guy whose been put through the wringer by life and has emotionally closed down.

I wanted smoke because it’s what remains. After the fire, after everything is destroyed, you’re left with smoke and ash. You’ve gotta make somethin’ out of it.

Destiny’s Surrender by Beverly Jenkins

Hey everyone,

I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve never read a Beverly Jenkins novel. Especially considering she is one of the iconic authors in the romance genre. I can’t say for certain why I picked Destiny’s Surrender out of her entire back-list, but I just thought it sounded good from the blurb.

The book:

The child he didn't know he had . . . 

Andrew Yates has come to a decision: it's time to stop sowing those oats and start a family. But searching for a bride isn't as simple as he'd hoped, and many of the respectable women of his acquaintance feel . . . lacking. Then beautiful, feisty Wilhelmina "Billie" Wells arrives at the family ranch with a toddler in her arms, claiming Drew is the father!

The woman he didn't know he loved . . . 

Billie had no choice but to show up at Destiny in search of Drew. For the sake of their child, she's willing to leave him with his father so the boy can have a better life, but then, before she can blink, she's saying "I do" in front of a preacher in a marriage of convenience. All Billie and Drew have in common is the heat that brought them together, but can their sizzling passion lead to an everlasting love?

My thoughts:

Given everything I heard about Beverly Jenkins and her books I had very high expectations for Destiny’s Surrender. I was excited to read a historical romance book with a black heroine and a hero with Spanish ancestry. I was intrigued to see how Beverly Jenkins would merge the romance plot with the attitudes towards race in America at the time.

Her name was Wilhelmina. Most called her Billie but this remarkable man had given her a unique name all his own: Mina.