Last week Kate and I (Anne) were on the phone and she mentioned that she’d checked her FIRST out from the library again. Her FIRST, the very first romance novel she’d ever read, the one that made her fall in love with romance. We both wondered if it would still be as good now as it was then. (I’ve never read it, I just wondered with her.) So, she read it, loved it, and decided to write up a review for us. So here’s to firsts! What was your first romance novel? Would it still be good today? ~Anne
Grade-A
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Genre-historical, touch of paranormal
Series – St. Leger #1
Reviewed by Kate
When I was 19 or 20, I ran across The Bride Finder in the check out lane of our local Shopko. The title alone fascinated me. I bought it without even reading the back. It turned out to be my first romance, one of my best impulse buys, and still one of my favorites to this day.
Anatole St.Leger comes from a rather strange family. Some of his ancestors have been conjurers, clairvoyants, exorcists, sorcerers, etc. Anatole’s own powers include seeing visions of the future, sensing a person’s presence, and levitating objects.
One of the family’s unique members is the Bride Finder, a person able to locate the one true mate for each St.Leger male. Anatole’s father chose to marry someone who was not chosen by the Bride Finder. Anatole’s mother ended up being terrified of her son and his powers. As a result, Anatole grew up feeling unloved and shut off from the world. Reluctantly, he sends the Bride Finder out to find his one true bride, determined to keep his powers a secret from her. It would crush him to have another person he loves be terrified of him.
When Madeline arrives at Anatole’s castle, she find herself facing a husband who won’t open up to her and a house full of secrets. Ever a logical person, she is determined to show Anatole the truth behind all of his family’s legends and myths. Little does she know…
A magical journey of Madeline fighting her way to the heart Anatole locked away years ago, and Anatole doing his best to keep himself from falling in love. I don’t think I can say enough to recommend this book except:
1. This is the book that I most regret donating when we moved, and
2. When I checked this book out from the library, even my husband got excited about rereading it (I made him wait until I had finished it though).
blaze
All Over You by Emily Snow
Grade-B+
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-Low
Series-Devoured #0.5
Reviewed by Kay
This is the prequel to Emily Snow’s Devoured series. It is about the events that led up to the night Lucas and Sienna almost shared together. Lucas is a rock star and Sienna is the wardrobe assistant at the video shoot for his band. He sees her and decides he must have her. No matter what. He pursues her and she finally gives into his invitation to dinner.
Sienna is a shy and kind person. Almost too soft hearted if you ask me. She tried to rebuff Lucas but to no avail. She was just in awe and over her head where Lucas was concerned. He takes her to his house where they have dinner and then the seduction starts. Sienna is right there with him the whole way until he brings out the handcuffs. She refuses and all bets are off now. He throws her out and that ends the story pretty much.
I liked having the prequel to read even if I read it after the first book. It filled in the blanks a little bit. I would recommend this story and the first book in the series. Good reads. Can’t wait for book three.
Shades Of Gray by Maya Banks
Grade-B+
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-KGI #6
Reviewed by Kay
This novel is the story of Cole and PJ, and I, like other readers of this series, have been waiting a long time for it. Cole and PJ are snipers for the KGI team. KGI is a black ops type of organization. It is family oriented but they do have non family members within the organization. The book starts out with Cole showing up in the bar in Denver that PJ hangs out in between missions. They have some tequila shots and decide to act on their simmering attraction to one another. The next morning they both get a call that their team is meeting for their next assignment. At the meeting it is decided that PJ will go undercover as semi bait for a human trafficker. No one likes the situation at all, especially Cole, since he’s already admitted to himself that he’s in love with PJ, and has been for some time.
During the mission, something goes horribly wrong and PJ is brutally raped and physically scarred. What makes this so terrible is that her whole team hears everything that happened to her. She resigns the team and disappears for six months, while her teammates and KGI desperately look for her. But let’s not forget, PJ knows how to disappear and go off the grid. She tracks down 3 of the 4 men who were at her rape. She killed the guards who watched but didn’t participate first. Then she killed one of her rapists and that just leaves the boss.
Finally her team tracks her down and decides to help her find the other man. She doesn’t want this but agrees to it. Vengeance is her sole focus and she doesn’t want to involve KGI. She and Cole reconnect and their relationship grows more intense by the day.
I anticipated this book for so long and I’m thrilled it was all I expected. I was a little concerned that she might do a little paranormal in this one the way she had the last two. I read both of those books and thought she might have honestly ruined the series for me. This book was a total redemption for the series in my opinion. I love the vigilante part and the closeness of her team. She had several things deal with and I thought they were handled well. It wasn’t hot after the one and only sex scene and understandably so. I didn’t miss that as I was transfixed on how the rest of the story played out. I know it’s $7.99 but it is truly worth every penny. I got my copy from the library since I was wary because of the last two books, but the KGI series is back to being an auto-buy for me.
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