Review: The Queen's New Year Secret by Maisey Yates

I almost didn't read this book because I didn't like the first part of the Princes of Petras - A Christmas Vow of Seduction. But it was on my list of books to read for the year and I do usually like Yates' Presents stories, so I decided to give it a try.

I liked it a lot more than I liked Christmas Vow of Seduction. In this story the queen, Tabitha, has asked the king, Kairos, for a divorce on New Year's Eve. He's furious about this and doesn't understand why his wife is suddenly unhappy with the cold, convenient marriage on which they both initially agreed.

The story is about his attempt to win her back, and I enjoyed reading about how these two work through their issues. Toward the end, I did begin to think that Kairos was such a jerk that maybe Tabitha would be better off without him. But he does finally face his problems and try to move past them.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. Not by any means one of my favorites, but still enjoyable for a quick read.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: Christmas Vow of Seduction by Maisey Yates

I did not like this book very much at all. I've read several Harlequin Presents in the past few days, and loved them, which is why I kept reading them instead of doing other things I should be doing around the house. And I'm usually a fan of Maisey Yates, but this book bothered me quite a bit.

The story begins with Zara, who is given to a king as a gift, and to his credit, he's kind of horrified by this. But then decides she'd make a great wife for his brother, Andres. His brother though was such a creep. Something of a sociopath, wanna-be rapist. I could not get past the first few scenes in the story when Andres is with Zara. He's trying to make clear that she has to do what he says and if not he's threatening to rape her. What? Yuck. As readers, we're shown his thought process and told he would never do this to a woman, but the very fact that he's threatening her in this way is upsetting. Lots of, "well, I'll show you what I mean" as he towers over her, thrusting his hips against her. As the story progresses, his behavior only gets worse. We learn he's had control issues his whole life, he was so badly behaved his mother left. He does not need a wife, he needs an extended stay in a mental health facility.

As for the story line, after he gets angry with Zara, then has sex with her against the wall during a luncheon - her first time, how romantic - he suddenly decides he can't get enough of her. She feels the same about him, which I guess is supposed to make it all okay. They grow closer, ready to get married on Christmas, then all of sudden Andres wants to make clear he doesn't love her. The way the story is told, this came out of nowhere, didn't flow with the story at all. Then there's all this about him dealing with his mother not loving him and he thinks he doesn't deserve love.

Of course they end up together in the end, everyone loving each other. That's not a spoiler, that's simply how these books always end. But none of it felt convincing. I need more than the thoughts in his head to believe any of this.

I usually really like Harlequin Presents, with their over the top, rich, powerful, ruthless men. But what makes me love these books is that the men, despite their power and often times arrogance, still fall hard when they fall in love and even if they treat everyone else horribly, they treat the women they love like the best thing that has ever happened to them. I didn't feel that with this book. In fact, I felt like Zara needed to run as far away as possible from this guy.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: Bound to the Warrior King by Maisey Yates

I wanted to read this book because I'm a big fan of Maisey Yates' Presents books and I thought the cover was gorgeous. In this case, completely safe to judge the book by its cover as the story was equally gorgeous - hmm, can you call a story gorgeous?

On a different day, in a different mood, I might have been rolling my eyes at parts of this modern day, grown-up version of Beauty and the Beast with a bit of Lion King. (I'm not going to explain it, but it will make sense if you read the book). However, today, as I spent my third consecutive day sick in bed, realizing that if I succumb to this fever, it will be at least nine days before anyone even thinks to look for my body, this story of two people who felt completely alone in the world finding each other and falling in love through a somewhat arranged marriage was a really beautiful story.  If I wasn't so dehydrated, I probably would have cried through parts of it.

There were a few parts of the story that I didn't like all that much. Parts in which the characters behavior didn't seem to fit with their previous behavior.  A few too many times they went from so wrapped up in each other to a strange, nope, don't want you. It was as if the conflict was obligatory and not natural to the story. I won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil the story, and it's probably not something that would bother other people that much. But anyway. All that being said, I still really liked this book. The great parts of this book totally make up for any parts I didn't like.

Two years after Olivia's husband - a king of a Scandinavian country - dies, she agrees to meet with Tarek. the new leader of an oil rich Middle Eastern country, in hopes of procuring a marriage. Her husband's brother is now king and he thinks it would be a good way to strengthen ties between the two nations, and Olivia no longer feels at home at the palace she once shared with her husband, so she's completely willing to go.

At first there seemed to be something a little pathetic about Olivia, seeking out a marriage to "find her place" as if a woman can't do that without a husband. But seeing her move beyond that kind of thinking added to my interest in this story. Olivia felt neglected as a child, and her marriage had been happy, but after her husband's death, she found herself alone again, an outsider in the palace she'd once called home. Tarek also has some issues. He's spent the last fifteen years living in the desert, acting as a warrior for his brother and their country. He knew nothing of palace life or running a country when he suddenly found himself in that position following his brother's death. He's very focused on his new job and views marriage as nothing more than a way to produce an heir. He's not very impressed with Olivia at their first meeting, but she convinces him that he needs her to help figure out all the details of running a country and living in a palace - something she knows a bit about.

I very much enjoyed reading about how these two fell for each other. As I said in the beginning, it's quite reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast (one of my favorite movies). And it's very, very romantic. I don't just mean the sex is good - it is, of course - but it's so much more than that. It's the thoughts running through their heads as they discover each other and in turn, themselves and become aware of these feelings they didn't even think were possible. This is two people who weren't at all sure about each other who gradually reach a point in which they can't bear to be away from each other. Two people who had nothing and no one who find everything in each other. I know that's what all romances are to some extent, but this is so good. Yates does a great job of showing just how alone these two people were before meeting each other.  You aren't just told they were alone, you can feel their emptiness as well as feel them finally moving away from that. As I warned in the beginning, I'm running a fever and I'm taking all kinds of cold medicine, so maybe I'm feeling a little extra sappy today, but some of these scenes rank among the best I've ever read with regard to pure, indulgent romance.  Swoon-worthy. The scene out in the desert when Tarek takes Olivia to show her the place he lived for the fifteen years he was away. Wow.

It's a quick read, perfect for a brief escape from reality. Highly recommend this book if sexy, romantic modern day fairy tales are your thing.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.
  

Review: Bad News Cowboy by Maisey Yates

This book was okay. I didn't dislike the story quite as much as I disliked the second book in the series.  But I still had issues with it.  Time to accept that cowboy stories and small town, family stories are really not my thing.  I think I'm probably a little too picky about romances, I seem to like certain ones a lot and others not much at all.  There's rarely any in-between with me. This one didn't fit into my "type."

This story is about the Garrett's little sister, Kate. She's in her early twenties and has never even been kissed.  She was raised by her brothers after her mother left and her father was too drunk to be of much help. I'm usually a fan of awkward characters, but this character wasn't a sort of awkward to which I could relate. I grew up around rodeo people, spent many weekends at rodeos.  I kept picturing some of the rodeo girls I knew and well, Yates captured the character fairly accurately. But at the same time, I never much liked those people, because of their awkwardness and weird clothes - the big hair and the starched shirts.  There's a scene in which Kate attempts to get dressed up for a date and I cringed picturing the clothes she put on.

Anyway, after a lifetime of never giving boys much thought, suddenly Kate is lusting after her brothers' friend Jack, who she has known since she was a small child.  That isn't completely strange - he was a familiar, attractive presence in her life and it isn't like she knew many other men. He seems like an obvious choice for her.

My biggest problem with the story though was Jack. Over and over again, we're told that he helped Eli and Connor Garrett raise their little sister Katie.  So he's sort of a big brother to her, in spirit if not in blood.  Again, this made me think of people I know, family friends who were like family. The idea of there being any sort of relationship really creeped me out.  He knew her as a small child and helped care for her.  Maybe if Katie had gone away to college or been out riding the rodeo circuit for a while and then returned and he realized she was all grown up, I would have be more okay with the relationship. But that isn't the case. He sees her on a regular basis, having dinner and playing poker at her brother's house, always thinking of her as a little sister. Then she makes clear she wants more and without much hesitation, he goes for it.

I didn't find their relationship very realistic or convincing. The jump from seeing her as his best friends' little sister to his lover was a bit too abrupt.  And him deciding he loved her seemed to be more a case of simply wanting something stable for once in his life and being flattered that she wanted him.

Overall, I just didn't like this book much.  Simply not my kind of story.  I need to be able to relate to the characters somehow in order to fully enjoy a book like this, and nothing these characters did made sense to me.

I did enjoy reading about the wedding of Eli and Sadie (from Part Time Cowboy, the first book in this series, which I liked quite a bit.)  Some of my favorite scenes though were not between Jack and Kate, but rather the interactions with Connor, or Jack dealing with his own family.  I continue to strongly dislike Connor's wife, Liss. She may have been even more annoying in this book.  Even though the story didn't resonate with me, the writing is still strong. And even though I wasn't convinced by the romance, the sex scenes are still pretty hot.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: Brokedown Cowboy by Maisey Yates

This book didn't work for me at all. I read this because I'd read the first book in the series and for the most part enjoyed it and wanted to see what happened with the rest of the family.

I'm not a big fan of friends to lovers story lines. To me, that seems like a huge betrayal of friendship. It's like someone isn't really a friend because they have an ulterior motive, and that makes me angry. Every once in a while though, I pick up a book with that story line and it is written in such a way that I'm okay with it, but this was not one of those books.  In fact, this book sort of confirmed and emphasized all the this I find wrong with "friends to lovers" story lines. I found the way friendship was abused in this story to be kind of horrifying.  Let me further explain.

Three years ago, Connor Garrett lost his wife, Jesse, in a car accident. She'd been his first and only love, the two having been together since they were in high school.  In one moment he lost his entire future and he's not sure how to move on.  Now it's him and his alcohol in a big empty house, remembering everything he ever did wrong in his marriage and all he'll never have.  He has his family and his friends to help him get through this. One of those friends is Liss.  She was friends with both he and his wife, and now has taken on the role of bringing Connor food on a regular basis, for fear that he won't remember to eat otherwise.

When Liss is thrown out of her rental house and can't find another place to stay, due to an ex ruining her credit (which kind of doesn't make sense if the town is as small as it seems, but anyway), Connor offers to let her stay with him.  This is when things get complicated because turns out, Liss has a crush on Connor.  She's had a crush on Connor since she was a teenager. And even worse, turns out that even though he was dating her friend, when that friend went away to college, Liss harbored hopes of him deciding he wanted her instead of Jesse and was devastated when he proposed to his girlfriend.  She even says she ran off during the wedding reception and cried her heart out, while wearing her bridesmaid dress because good friend that she was, she was, of course, part of the wedding party.  Sorry, that's not a friend. You don't lust after your friend's boyfriend like that. Yuck.

Connor and Jesse are married for eight years. Happily married. Oh sure, they have their issues, but nothing more than typical marriage type issues. Still, Liss is longing for Connor. Finally, Jesse dies and she has her chance. She steps in and tries to play the wife, acting like his house is her own and buying him groceries - even though Connor wants his wife, not a replacement wife. Connor thinks she's just being a friend because she was friends to both he and Jesse.

This is the point where I find this isn't even a "friends to lovers" story but more a Single White Female type story, but maybe that's just me.  Maybe I could have accepted this story if Liss had begun to develop feelings for Connor after Jesse's death. Maybe if they'd grieved together, and grown closer in their shared loss.  But to say she always wanted him? That she ached for him while he was married to her friend? She needs mental help. She should talk to Sadie, Connor's future sister-in-law who is a professional counselor.

After living in the house together for a while, things get a little awkward, Connor accidentally grabbing Liss' underwear when it's in the dryer, and then Liss walking in on him in his underwear.  This is the point where it starts to hit Connor that he's been without sex for three years and now there's a somewhat attractive woman living in his house. Pretty soon, this woman is throwing herself at him. He's a guy, so he has sex with her, but he's pretty clear about it just being sex. In fact, he tells her many times that he wants nothing more than sex, and she doesn't seem to be able to take that answer. She's literally throwing her naked self at him and continues to do so, despite him saying he doesn't love her, doesn't want to love anyone. They finally get to a point in which she says if he doesn't love her, then he'll even lose her as a friend.  She gives him an ultimatum. I guess this is where we're supposed to believe that he sees the light and realizes he does in fact love her. But to me, it read more like, may as well keep her, easier than finding someone else and he didn't want to be alone forever.

Suffice it to say, I didn't find this love story to be very convincing. I thought Liss was kind of pathetic and so very, very desperate. I did not like her at all. She waited around for her friend to die to get her hands on the man she wanted.  (Wouldn't be surprised if she had something to do with the car wreck, but that's just my twisted mind.) Then she took advantage of the fact that he was painfully lonely and sad and wallowing in his grief and hadn't had sex in years.  He settled for her because she was convenient.  He liked having sex with her and he appreciated what she did for him, but I never felt he loved her.

One other thing I didn't like about this book though, and it bothered me a lot, was the need to try to describe the dead wife as having been inadequate in bed. Is that some rule in romance books - the only great sex the characters can have is with each other?  That seemed so cruel and unnecessary. How can you say this man is so sad and grieving, and then try to say the wife he's grieving was kind of boring in bed?

What I'd really like to read would be a novella/prequel about Connor and Jesse, though I suspect that won't happen because well, they don't get a happy ever after, do they?

As much as I disapproved of the romance in this story, there must be something of quality to the storytelling for me to feel this wound up about a story. The characters are interesting, and realistic.  Obviously, I care about the characters, otherwise, I wouldn't get so angry about the things that happen to them.  This isn't by any means a bad book, I just didn't like what happened in the book. I especially liked some of the scenes between Connor and his brother, Eli, thought those scenes were more poignant than any of the scenes between Connor and Liss. I really liked Eli and Sadie from the first book, so was glad to see some of them in this book.

I received a copy via NetGalley.

Review: Part Time Cowboy by Maisey Yates

I was hesitant about reading this book.  I tend to want to read anything written by Maisey Yates - but on the other hand, I don't really like cowboys or small town romances.  I grew up in a small town, around cowboys, and as a result of that constant exposure, I don't like either.  So why read about things I don't like?

But still, I was curious about the story, I was intrigued by quotes and photos and even a theme song to go along with the book.

First chapter, I was convinced I wouldn't like the book.  Why would someone return to a small town they disliked, especially when they had no family there or any reason they had to return?  Sadie was going back to a place full of terrible memories by choice?  Someone who liked to run and never settle down was signing a five-year lease to run a bed and breakfast?  None of this made any sense to me.  After the first chapter, I put the book away and read two other books.  But then I returned to it.  At least give it a try.

Well, by chapter four, I was thoroughly drawn into the story and couldn't put it down.   All other plans for the day were put on hold so I could keep reading.  Parts of this book were so good.  And I'm not even talking about the sexy times - which were plenty good - but it was the other parts.  Sadie learning to confront her past demons and Eli realizing he'd spent his whole life trying to save everyone.  This book had me in tears more than once.  It also had me laughing and cringing and then it made me angry.

In the beginning Sadie is returning to her home town after being gone for ten years.  But as she approaches what is to be her new home, she runs out of gas, and a law officer pulls over to see if she needs help.  Officer Eli Garret, the same man who arrested her ten years earlier, and the catalyst for what caused her to run away.  Also, turns out that was Eli's first arrest.  You never forget your first, right?

Sadie's back in town to open up a bed and breakfast, which happens to be located on land owned by Eli's family.  Little bit complicated.  These two can't seem to stand each other, until they realize that really they can't get enough of each other.  They have some serious, explosive chemistry.  The dialogue is great.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these two realize how much they wanted each other.

For a while I was loving this book so much, was thinking it was one of the best romances I'd ever read.  There is a scene (possible spoiler! Sorry.) in which Sadie finally tells Eli about what happened the night he arrested her.  So incredibly heart breaking and so very well written.  I was feeling everything reading this, the hurt and the shame and guilt.  And the way their relationship developed after that, after all the secrets and been uncovered.  So good.

But then something happened that pissed me off.  Made me so angry and I considered not even finishing the book (for like three seconds, but still).  She'd just been completely vulnerable with him, showing him the place she'd run to for safety when she was younger and he'd been so kind and understanding.  Damn bastard had braided her hair.  Then all of a sudden, something happens, and it was a big, bad something, but still, his response was to say, "It's over."  This from the guy who was always so careful and controlled and concerned, and his reaction is to ditch her after seeing how much she wanted him, how much she trusted him?

I know this is a romance novel and I knew they would work it out, but at that point, I was thinking Sadie would have a happier ever after if she packed her things, got in the car and drove as far away from the dysfunctional Garrett family as possible.  Suddenly living with no one but her cat and moving from place to place every year or so didn't seem like such a bad idea in my mind.

Also, I detest when some character who has no importance at all suddenly shows up bestowing invaluable wisdom.  That's such a trait in small town romances - the all knowing elder or busy body, too observant neighbor.  I hate that.  To me it's lazy that the characters can't figure out important things for themselves and need someone who really should be minding her own business to show them the way.

The ending is sweet, and of course, I'm glad they worked things out, but because of the events right before the ending, I'm not able to call this one of my favorites.  However, it was still a very good book.

I've already started reading the next book in the series.

I received a review copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: Billionaire's Intern - Part 1 by Maisey Yates

First, I should admit I did not understand what I was reading. Yes, I saw that it was "part 1" but I assumed that meant it was the first book in a trilogy. When I opened it on my kindle, I saw it was very short, but thought it was a novella, in the same vein as the Cosmo Hot Reads.

I generally avoid anything with "Billionaire" in the title. I think that has become so overused, and such a weak word to describe someone. He has money. Okay? Not saying I don't like stories about wealthy men, but if the most important thing about him is his money, kind of boring. (I spent my twenties in the Dallas-area, knew a lot of guys with a lot of money and most of them were total jackasses who thought money was all they needed. So anyway.)

But I generally love Maisey Yates' books - her Presents books were some of the first romances I read when I returned to reading romances, and remain some of my favorites. So when I saw this on NetGalley, of course I wanted to read it. And once I began reading it, I was so happy to see Austin from Avenge Me in the beginning of the story. (I absolute loved that book!)

But this part 1 is just like 50 pages of the story. If I'd known it was simply part of a story, I wouldn't have bothered reading it - I would have waited until I could get the entire story. I don't really understand this format. I went to amazon to try to figure out what is going on. According to their listings, this will be released in parts - 50-60 pages each - every two days. First part free (June 7), second part 99 cents (June 9), next one 2.50 (June 11) and then I think, four dollars for the fourth part (June 14). Or you could get entire story for six dollars (June 17). This concept doesn't make sense to me at all. The entire story is less than 200 pages (if the amazon listing is correct) so why split it up? Maybe there is something involved that I simply don't understand or am not aware of. Like it's a special promotion of some sort. But I don't like it, and I was incredibly disappointed when I realized last night that I didn't have an entire story.

The biggest problem though is there is nothing in the first part that makes me feel the need to keep reading it. I know that Allison likes Skittles - bought by her brother - and Logan Black doesn't wear shoes and he doesn't like being around people. That isn't enough to make me want to hurry up and purchase part two.

I'll probably read the entire book when it's available, but I really don't like the serial concept at all. I like reading a book all at once. And after reading the first part, I'm not in any way anxiously awaiting the rest of the story.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: Shoulda Been a Cowboy by Maisey Yates

I'm not a big fan of cowboy stories, but I am a big fan of Maisey Yates' books, which is why I decided to go ahead and read a book with the word "cowboy" in the title.  But I didn't love this story.  For some reason, what I find attractive in the Harlequin Presents books isn't so attractive in a small town contemporary.  That probably makes me a bad person - rich guy in a suit can be an arrogant jerk, but not a mechanic on a motorcycle?  (At least I'm aware of my flaws, right?)  I didn't like the guy in this book, and Cassie just seemed very sad and a little desperate.  I found myself thinking she probably could have done a lot better if she'd tried looking.  (I may also have an issue with stories that involve high school crushes re-connecting, maybe because the guy I thought was so wonderful and attractive in high school is now bald and fat, so these stories ick me out a bit.)

Another problem I had was that I started reading this on the same day I finished reading Victoria Dahl's So Tough to Tame, and the set up was way too similar.  Girl had big crush on guy when she tutored him in high school, he had problems with his dad, now they re-connect after all these years, neither realizing they liked each other way back then.  Now they lived right next to each other, thin walls and she can hear what is happening in the shower.

I'm also noticing that I tend to not like a lot of romance novellas, the stories are too short for so much intensity.  Maybe I need a little more build-up.

Shoulda Been a Cowboy is the prequel to Yates' Copper Ridge series - and the guy in this book isn't actually a cowboy - hence the title.  I do have every intention of reading the other books in this series because, as I said, I am a huge fan of Maisey Yates and love almost everything she's written.  This was a rare exception.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: Christmas with a Billionaire: Billionaire under the Mistletoe\Snowed in with Her Boss\A Diamond for Christmas

Holiday romances are my indulgence during this time of the year.  I read as many as possible beginning around Thanksgiving.  This was my first of the season.

The common theme in these stories is a billionaire.  I usually avoid stories in which a character's main identifier is that he's a billionaire.  That just seems so boring and overdone.  That isn't to say I don't read my fair share of stories about rich men (I love Harlequin Presents) but I don't like for the most important thing about the person to be how much money he has.  I'm more interested in powerful and successful rather than simply, rich.  But this collection included a story by Maisey Yates, so I was anxious to read it.

But darn these romance novelists for giving false hope and allowing us to imagine that the handsome man in the suit at the airport might for a moment have a passing interest in the weird girl with purple hair, wearing a leather jacket and Doctor Who tshirt.

That's the thing about the billionaire stories, the gorgeous, successful, rich man is drawn to the awkward, quirky, creative girl who is short and a little chunky with crazy hair, not the statuesque blondes he's spent most of his life dating.  That's why weird girls, like me, enjoy these stories.  But my goodness, they are so very far from reality.

Anyway, the first story is Billionaire Under the Mistletoe by Carole Mortimer.  I didn't like this story all that much.  The writing bothered me with exclamation points at the end of almost every other paragraph.  The exclamation points weren't part of dialogue either, but rather describing the characters thoughts or impressions.  That seems more fitting for text messages, not a book. That should have been edited out of there.  Also, I didn't pick up on any strong chemistry between the characters.  I never felt any sort of connection to them.  Their attraction just happened without any real explanation.  I found it very difficult to believe a guy would be so attracted to the woman he hired to decorate and cook for the holidays, and after hardly knowing her at all, want her to join in with his family celebrations.  I didn't hate the story, but didn't love it.

However, I did love the second story, which is Maisey Yates' Snowed in with Her Boss.  Loved the couple in this book.  Even in a story this short, I felt like the characters were well-developed, and from the beginning, they had great chemistry.  The two had a history together, Amelia has worked as Luc's Personal Assistant for years.  He's used to her quirks, and tolerates things like her constant singing because she's an invaluable employee.  When they go to Colorado together to check out a property he's considering purchasing, they're mistaken as a couple.  Luc decides to go along with it, hoping to get a better deal on the property.  But a snowstorm hits and the two find themselves spending a lot more time together than expected.  The time trapped together, pretending to be what they aren't, results in them exploring the attraction they've had for each other and tried to deny for too long.  Very good story.  (Maybe because I'd just watched Homeland, I immediately pictured Raza Jaffrey as Luc when his "mocha" skin was mentioned.  Later it is mentioned that he's part African, so I realized my image was wrong, but it was already set at that point.  Also, this story would work well as a Hallmark holiday movie, granted some elements might not be appropriate for Hallmark, but they could figure it out.  It would be adorable.)

I also very much enjoyed the third story in this anthology, A Diamond for Christmas by Joss Wood.  Riley has been in love with her best friend's big brother, James for most of her life.  They have a history of three one night stands, with several years between each of them.  After the latest though, Riley's had enough.  She currently works for the family designing windows at their store in New York City.  She's planning to leave as soon as the Christmas windows are revealed.  But James isn't ready to let her go just yet.  I loved the history between these characters, and learning how they've drifted in and out of each other's lives over the years. Very nice story.  There seemed to be so much going on in this story, besides just the love story.  I'm curious as to whether there are or will be more books about this family.

Overall, I liked this anthology quite a bit.  The last two stories were great, perfect way to begin my holiday reading for the year.

I received a review copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: To Defy a Sheikh by Maisey Yates

Maisey Yates' Harlequin Presents novels are some of my favorite romance novels.  Lots of romance and angst in extreme settings.

To Defy a Sheikh started a bit slow, but even so, for much of the book, I was thinking Ferran was one of my favorite heroes.  But that didn't last.

Things got a little too complicated toward the end.  He was switching emotions every five seconds, he wanted her to be happy, but he didn't want to her to want him, he wanted to be married, but he couldn't love her.  For me, it didn't make sense and didn't fit in with the character that we'd been reading about for the first 60-70% of the book.  Also, it was all so quick.  We had all this build up and development of their relationship and then it all fell apart.  I remember my kindle saying I only had ten minutes left in the book and thought, how in the world are they going to resolve all of this so quickly?

They did, but not in a way I found satisfying.  If anything, in the end, I didn't feel like their love was geniune at all.  For her it was simply the result of him being the first guy she'd ever been with and for him, it was more out of obligation than anything else.

I still enjoyed the book, but not quite as much as I usually enjoy these books.  Still provides all the necessary ingredients for a fun, quick, escape: a palace setting, tragic history, passionate characters.

If you're a fan of Yates' Sheikh books, then you'll probably enjoy this.  If you haven't read any of them yet, and want to try some, I'd suggest Heir to a Desert Legacy or Forged in the Desert Heat, those are some of my favorites.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: Breaking All Her Rules by Maisey Yates

This is a Cosmo Red Hot Reads and it is indeed red hot.

I enjoyed this novella quite a bit.  It's a short story about a woman who has spent her whole life focused on her work, trying so hard to please her family and be the "good daughter."  Then one day she shares a cab with a handsome cowboy, who looks very out of place in New York City, and accidentally picks up his phone instead of hers.

She tracks her phone back to his hotel and shows up to retrieve it, and standing there, looking at this cowboy with his shirt off, standing in his hotel room, she decides she's tired of always being the good girl.

I've said this many times in my reviews, but Maisey Yates is one of my favorite romance writers.  She creates the best characters.  Sometimes though, I think I like her characters because I always feel like I can relate to them on some level - not in the successful finance person sort of way, but rather the nice girl, focused on her work, too busy or uninterested in a "real" relationship, either avoiding relationships or settling for some that doesn't involve much effort.  And then someone walks into their lives and changes everything about the way they've always viewed relationships.  I like that idea, that someone might someday appear who makes taking a chance seem worthwhile.  Okay, I might get a little too caught up in these stories sometimes.

But I sincerely believe that the idea of meeting a man in a cab who makes a woman want to toss aside all her years of trying to follow all the rules is probably a woman's biggest fantasy.  The idea that it could be that simple, that one day he could just be there - this is why we read romance novels.  We know it will never happen, but isn't it nice to dream?

Very enjoyable quick, sexy read.  

Review: Avenge Me by Maisey Yates

I loved this book.  I really loved this book.  I'm probably going to end up buying a few copies of this book to give to friends who I think will also love this book. 


And before I go on, let me just get this out of the way, because every book out there seems to get compared to 50 Shades of Grey, and I'm sure that will happen with this one as well.  It's almost as if the author knew that would happen, and just to show you she knew, she threw in a few lines - such as the comment that they were too many shades of messed up to be together, and then there's a mention of the sky being a shade of grey. 


There is the element of domination and submission and such but that's where any comparison ends because I believe that even on her worst day, Maisey Yates can outwrite EL James, and she doesn't need the framework of a teenage vampire love story to do so.  Anyway, that said, I usually stay away from books that involve domination.  If I see that in the description or notice that people on GoodReads have tagged a book BDSM, I usually don't even bother to read it.  I found myself cringing for a moment in this book and thinking, no, don't go there.  But I kept reading and I'm glad I did.  This was the first time I've read about these situations and heard it explained in such a way that it made sense to me.  As I said, I don't read a lot of stories labeled BDSM, so maybe there are lots of great examples, but anyway.  Point being, as someone usually a little icked out about this, I wasn't icked out by this - icked, really putting that Master's Degree to work here, aren't I?

Now to the point of my review.  This book is so good.  This is the sort of book, I want all my friends to read, so we can discuss it later.  Intense storyline - dark, gritty, tragic; strong characters dealing with loads of internal angst, including a decade of guilt, as well as some messed up external circumstances with which these characters are having to cope - family problems, work issues, difficult friends - it's all there.  And, of course, it's got the usual elements of a Harlequin Presents - money, power and sex - and in this case, maybe more so than the usual Presents, abuse of all three.  Before I got my hands on this book, I kept reading about how this book was different from the usual Presents -  and it is, mostly in that it's longer, and there's more of a storyline, or rather a more involved storyline.  Usually the books focus on a couple and their relationship.  There is a couple and there is the focus on their relationship, but there's also a lot more happening.  These two people are a mission to destroy a man that ruined the life of someone who was very important to them.  That part of the story continues in the other two books in this trilogy.

I loved the characters in this book.  Strong female character, that's always a necessity for me to enjoy a romance.  Katy's determined and she's not at all intimidated by a guy with a lot of money, and she's very much in control of her life.  But before she can truly begin to live her life, she's got to avenge the death of her sister.  Austin is another big reason to love this book.   Austin wants the same thing as Katy, her sister having been one of his best friends.  For ten years, he's lived with the guilt of not having done more to help her.  But despite wanting to focus on avenging the death of Katy's sister - he also wants Katy, in a way that he feels he shouldn't.  The chemistry between these two is great and the sex, so hot.  I enjoyed reading about the way the two grew to care about each other.

I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a steamy, sexy read with a great storyline.

Review: Crazy Stupid Sex by Maisey Yates



As I’ve said in other reviews, I’m a big fan of Maisey Yates’ Harlequin Presents novels.  Crazy Stupid Sex is a Cosmo Red-Hot Reads, and in some ways similar to the Presents books that I love so much. 

 

As I began reading this, I almost immediately thought, and probably not for the first time, that what I love about Yates’ characters is that she’s basically writing about me or rather, people like me.  Okay, I’m not gorgeous, or wildly successful in business, or come from a wealthy family, and I’m about ten or so years older than most of her heroines.  So, to be clear, if her characters were average looking, mid-thirty, school teachers, she’d be writing about me.  And by that I mean, the personality of the characters.  The way they sort of focused on getting through life, doing their job, doing what needs to be done, and not really thinking all that much about men because they had more important things to do.  (That’s my story I’m sticking to it.)  Then when they do find themselves in a situation involving a guy, they’re really awkward and not sure about how to proceed.  Hmm, am I revealing too much here?  Probably.  Oh whatever, but I do own a Doctor Who shirt, I own a few shirts, like the heroine in this book.  So there, we’re just alike, sort of.

 

Evie’s a 27-year-old millionaire who is working with a magazine to design an app to help people flirt and hook up.  She just got out of a long, boring relationship, so she’s out trying to gather information for her app because she doesn’t have any experience in this area.  While doing this, she meets Caleb.  He’s just looking for a good time, and Evie realizes that might be exactly what she needs.  The two end up learning quite a bit from each other. 

 

Fast-paced, cute, funny, sexy story.  As I figured I would, I liked it a lot.  It’s the type of story that draws you in immediately and keeps you entertained the entire time.  At this point, I’m pretty certain that you can’t go wrong with anything written by Maisey Yates. 

I received a copy of this via NetGalley. 

Review: Forged in the Desert Heat by Maisey Yates

I used to be something of a book snob, the sort who would roll my eyes at the words "romance" or "Harlequin".  Now though, I will hurt someone if they dare to take away my Maisey Yates' Harlequin Presents.  In the past year, I've read five or six of them and have enjoyed them quite a bit.

She creates these likable, complex characters and interesting couples.  These books provide the perfect escape and have become my go-to when I need a book that I can dive into immediately.

What I especially like about these books is that unlike some “millionaire/billionaire” books, these aren’t stories of rich men seducing helpless, young poor girls who need someone to take care of them. Most of these women are doing just fine on their own, at least with regard to careers and finances.  Suffice it to say that I don’t feel as if I’m handing in my feminist card when I read these books.  In most cases, the women wield as much power as the men.  And emotionally, they seem to be equally damaged.

In Forged in the Desert Heat, Ana comes from a wealthy background.  She was educated at nice boarding schools, she’s now getting ready to marry a Sheik.  But during a pre-wedding trip, she’s abducted, and then rescued by another Sheik from a neighboring kingdom.  (I said these books were enjoyable, not that they were realistic; I don’t read for realism.)  Zafar takes her to stay in his palace until he can figure out how to get her back to her fiancé without causing a war.  This is where the story took a very distinct Beauty and the Beast twist (oh, and I love Beauty and the Beast).  A palace that seems frozen in time, a man who has been alone for so long, he's forgotten how to behave in civilized company.  I liked it a lot.

 

As Ana waits to return home, she has plenty of time to rethink some decisions she'd made in her life - or rather the lack of decisions.  She's always done what she was told to do, what she thought would make her father happy, exactly what was expected of her.  She now realizes she's on the verge of marrying a man she thinks she loves because she's supposed to love him.  But after a kiss from Zafar, she realizes that the love she thought she felt was devoid of passion.  How can she go back to that life?  Another thing I like about the books I've read by Yates, is we see her characters fall for each other.  The attraction may be instant, but it takes a while before they develop an emotional connection, as it should be. 

 

I enjoyed reading about Ana taking control of her life, making decisions that were best for her and being willing to deal with the consequences, even if her choices weren't what were expected of her.  And, of course, this had all the steamy romance that can be expected from these books.  Overall, I really liked this book. 

 

I read this while traveling over the Thanksgiving break and it worked perfectly for keeping my mind off the dreariness of waiting in airports and riding in small planes and other "fun" holiday-ness.

 

I received a review copy via NetGalley.