(OLD) Review: The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan

The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan

Series: Brothers Sinister #2

Release Date: July 15th, 2013

Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

Miss Jane Fairfield can’t do anything right. When she’s in company, she always says the wrong thing—and rather too much of it. No matter how costly they are, her gowns fall on the unfortunate side of fashion. Even her immense dowry can’t save her from being an object of derision.

And that’s precisely what she wants. She’ll do anything, even risk humiliation, if it means she can stay unmarried and keep her sister safe.

Mr. Oliver Marshall has to do everything right. He’s the bastard son of a duke, raised in humble circumstances—and he intends to give voice and power to the common people. If he makes one false step, he’ll never get the chance to accomplish anything. He doesn’t need to come to the rescue of the wrong woman. He certainly doesn’t need to fall in love with her. But there’s something about the lovely, courageous Jane that he can’t resist…even though it could mean the ruin of them both.

This may just be the best Historical Romance I've ever read.

I cannot even remember why I picked this up (I have short term memory loss issues), I just thought it would be a good idea and boy was it ever.

This book kind of just gets rid of quite a bit of tropes that are common in the genre. You don't have rakes, you don't have perfect characters, the beauty of these characters is not important, the characters are presented as individuals instead of a unit. It's almost as if Courtney wrote this book with me in mind.

While I enjoy the usual historical romance, they are usually guilty pleasures, not something extraordinarily unique. This one though, this one was special. The only other historical romance I can think of that made this happy was Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas.

I have to start with Oliver. He was PERFECT. Like where can I find one perfect. He is a bastard and has always been shunned his whole life because of this. His parents have always been encouraging and great but that didn't protect him from the experiences he had when he went to college, which caused him to disappear inside his own cocoon, making him forget about how his own rebellion against society. He molded himself into what they expected from him instead of what he believed. In spite of all that you can still see his determination. He will do whatever he can to get what he wants, but he'll let you know if he's about to destroy you to get there (or maybe he just really liked Jane). But my favorite thing about him was that he wasn't a rake. Half the historical romances out there have either rakes or angry young men for male leads but Oliver was neither. Oh he was angry but he wasn't a controlling douche bag. He was a sweetheart. His inner struggle was heartbreaking to watch. It helped that he wore glasses and that his looks were hardly mentioned in the book. The female lead did not spend a billion hours swooning over how hot he was (even if he was pretty damn hot).

Jane was pretty damn awesome too. She is also a bastard but she embraces it more readily than Oliver and society doesn't mind her as much because of the fact that she is rich as hell. She was extremely clever, it was hilarious watching her repel all these people by just being..kind of nice. Jane lives a lie. Well it isn't exactly a lie but an exaggeration of her own personality which no one accepted anyway. She is doing all of this because she cannot get married, well not while her sister is still under the care of their uncle. He may have good intentions but he does all the wrong things in the name of Emily's well being. Some of them scary as hell. So she needs to stay there to protect her baby sister. But going back to Jane, she is this wonderful female lead who isn't ashamed. She may be alone, she may not be particularly happy but she never loses her back bone. She is strong and wonderful. One of the things that I really loved about her was how that even in the end, when she got her own HEA, she didn't let go of her 'out going ness'. She didn't lose the characteristics that made her, well her, even when there was no need to repel guys.

The romance though. It still makes me grin. It's slow to develop and starts off with friendship instead of you know, insta love. There isn't even insta attraction. Jane wants to get Oliver off her back while Oliver pities her. Even he doesn't initially see through her armor. Which is incredibly refreshing because it would be way too convenient if he did. It's really fun watching Oliver, in particular, struggle with his feelings until he comes to the realization ON HIS OWN that his life would suck without Jane. Jane again surprises me when she doesn't give up everything she is to be with this guy. It's not the fact that she didn't give up everything but the fact that she realized what she would be losing if she did that. She would be losing herself. I don't make to make their romance sound morbid, it has tons of fun banter and swoon worthy moments as well.

The secondary characters are awesome and I enjoyed Emily and Battacharya's story as well. It was sweet and lovable, just like them.

I also enjoyed Jane's relationship with her sister. It was so heartwarming. Although let me just say because I really need to get it out of my system, I AM NOT THAT KIND OF SISTER. Man I really do hope that someday someone will write a story where sisters aren't so NICE to each other.

In the end this is a wonderful historical romance and I am pretty sure I'll be re-reading it sometime in the near future. Hell for the first time I actually want to read the sequel although I doubt it will live up to the awesomeness of this book. I DEFINITELY recommend this book to fans of historical romance who are getting tired of the tropes.

Review: Viking Fire by Andrea Cooper

Viking Fire by Andrea Cooper
Release Date: July 29th, 2013
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

856 CE, Ireland is a land of myth, magic, and blood. Viking raiders have fought the Irish for over half a century. Rival Irish clans promise only betrayal and carnage.

Kaireen, daughter of Laird Liannon, is suddenly forced into an arranged marriage with her sworn enemy, a Viking. She refuses to submit. With no mention of love, only land and the protection of her clan, she endeavors to get her betrothed banished from her country. Will love find its way around her stubborn heart?

Bram, the Viking, finds himself without future or inheritance as a younger son in his family. A marriage to the Laird’s daughter would grant him land if he swears fidelity and if his men will fight along with the Liannons against any foe—Irish or Viking. However, the Laird’s feisty daughter only holds animosity for him and his kind. Is marriage worth the battle scars of such a relentless opponent?

With the blame for a rival laird’s death treacherously set against the Liannons, Kaireen and Bram must find a way to lay aside their differences as an unforeseen darkness sends death snapping at their heels.

I like my historical romances but the ones I usually read are set in the 19^th century. My one attempt at reading something set farther back was a complete fail *cough Born in Sin cough*. This book is set even farther back, in ‘856 CE’  but the idea of Vikings being involved was intriguing enough for me to overlook the last time I got burned.

This was certainly a whole lot more tolerable than Born in Sin but the story itself was lacking. The setting was pulled off really well but when it came to the plot and characters, things just didn’t work out.

Starting with the main character, Kaireen, who is a speshul snowflake. She isn’t ordinary like her sisters, her father taught her how to use a bow and arrow and she also happens to be the only sister who gets a dowry. I do not understand. Why is she so special? She seems too brazen for a girl in that time. and is always running around doing things she shouldn’t be. The only quality about her that I actually like was how she was somewhat self-centered. We’ve encountered all those female leads that are so nice it’s sickening. The ones who probably go skipping around town throwing flowers everywhere from their special flower basket *gags*. I liked how she was actually aware of her position as the daughter of the leader of the clan. She wasn’t rude to the servants but she didn’t go out of her to be nice… and she actually got pissed at how she was treated during the term of her punishment (which she got for running around doing things she shouldn’t have… so that’s another plus).

I was really surprised by how everyone around her seemed to be fawning over ‘the enemy’ and she was the only one who had the common sense to actually realize that he was the enemy. Hotness shouldn’t be used as a way to redeem a character. That never helps. I suppose he’s never done anything ‘wrong’ but how can they be so certain he isn’t like the rest of the Vikings that raid their lands? What happened to self-preservation?

Getting to said enemy, Bram, why? Why is he so enthusiastic to marry her? I mean from what I understand he basically creepily observed her and fell in love and wanted to marry her. What? No. Ugh. He also happens to be a tad bit too perfect for my liking. Stopping men from beating up their wives, rescuing sisters (not once but TWICE), swearing fidelity to a girl he hasn’t married and who knows nothing about him, oh and he’s really hot.

The romance set off all my alarms, INSTA LOVE ALERT. One day she is hating on him, the other she is worried he is going to die. What? How did you even get there? I thought you didn’t want to marry him and now you’re telling yourself you don’t love him. Huh? Let’s not forget they know NOTHING about each other (well Bram did creepily observe her).

The plot did not work at all. It lacked substance. It was like trying to piece a puzzle where the pieces obviously did not fit. The pacing in general was messed up. Events occurred one after the other but they were never dwelled on. It was almost like a check list. They get attacked, check, there is a fire, check, etc. I just don’t understand what the point even was. The villain was very dull and seemed more like a wannabe than anything else. Like being evil for the sake of being evil and nothing else. I didn’t completely understand what made her tick and why she was out for blood. Some of the things were just vaguely mentioned never to be talked about again. The plot was all over the place and things didn't really tie back.

Simply put, this book did not work. It was decent enough but it lacked substance and couldn’t keep my attention. 

ARC Review: Bitter Spirits by Jenn Bennett

Bitter Spirits by Jenn Bennett
Series: Roaring Twenties #1
Release Date: January 7th, 2013
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

First in a new romance series: It’s the roaring twenties, and San Francisco is a hotbed of illegal boozing, raw lust, and black magic. The fog-covered Bay Area can be an intoxicating scene, particularly when you specialize in spirits…

Aida Palmer performs a spirit medium show onstage at Chinatown’s illustrious Gris-Gris speakeasy. However, her ability to summon (and expel) the dead is more than just an act.

Winter Magnusson is a notorious bootlegger who’s more comfortable with guns than ghosts—unfortunately for him, he’s the recent target of a malevolent hex that renders him a magnet for hauntings. After Aida’s supernatural assistance is enlisted to banish the ghosts, her spirit-chilled aura heats up as the charming bootlegger casts a different sort of spell on her...

On the hunt for the curseworker responsible for the hex, Aida and Winter become drunk on passion. And the closer they become, the more they realize they have ghosts of their own to exorcise…

Jenn may have made me give up my first born child but this book was worth it. Anything Jenn writes is worth it. This woman knows what she is doing. She has yet to disappoint me (TOUCH WOOD). When I started this book, I knew without a doubt I would love it and love it I did.

When I heard that Jenn was writing a series that took place in the 20s I was ecstatic. The 20’s are one of my favorite time periods and to know that one of my favorite authors was writing a book that took place during that time…I think you know where I am going with this.

Jenn really did manage to capture the essence of that time though. It was believable; it didn’t seem to be just facts. Jenn really brought the time period to life and I was a goner. I have to say though; this series is COMPLETELY different from Arcadia Bell. They may both share a paranormal aspect but the world building and the focus on romance makes the two different from one another.

There is magic involved but it is so different from the kind of magic in Arcadia Bell. It’s more down to Earth and less magical if that makes any sense.

I ABSOLUTELY ADORED how Jenn played with Prohibition, she throws us right in the middle of it and makes our male lead a bootlegger. *claps hands* The woman is brilliant I tell you. Winter’s life changed two years ago because of a car accident. It left him disfigured and low on self-esteem (he wouldn’t admit that last part to you though). He picked himself up though and he carried on. He further built his father’s business and became a better boss than his father ever was. When someone tries to poison him with GU and ghosts start attacking him as a result, he enlists the help of the famous medium Aida. Winter is, I cannot help comparing, completely different from Lon (from the Arcadia Bell series). He is a lot more intense and can sometimes be a little dense when it comes to Aida. But he is also passionate and loving and will do anything for the ones he loves.  He also wears suspenders (although I suspect all men did in that time period but no one probably pulled them off as well as he did) so he is a winner.

Aida was a strong female, although honestly I thought she might be a flapper before I read the book. I am so glad she wasn’t even if I am sad flappers weren't mentioned. Aida was perfect just the way she was. She was a proud woman who isn’t ashamed of what she does. She earns a living by travelling around and performing ‘shows’ where she calls back people’s loved ones from the dead for one last chat. She is unapologetic and sassy but she is also a survivor, which makes me like her even more.

The best thing about the romance was how it did NOT overshadow the plot. There was quite a bit of focus on it and it didn't just linger in the background but the plot didn’t fade into the background because of the intensity of the romance. In fact Jenn managed to make both the plot and the romance shine. The romance did give off insta-attraction vibes but I decided to give it a chance to develop further before forming an opinion and boy was it worth it. The setting makes it even more interesting. There is this sensuality in the romance that makes it so magical. The going to the hotels, the raids, the old fashioned cars/cabs, the calling each other on the old fashioned phones where you would have to get through an operator to connect to the person you are trying to call, it was all wonderful.

The plot, as I mentioned, was well developed. I LOVED the Chinese dark magic, I cannot recall the correct term so don’t mind me. I loved the spying. I loved how the mystery unravelled and I loved how I had not thought that that person would be the culprit.

Jenn really did it again with this book. I am a little sad that the series will not continue on with these two characters I have come to love and am not sure how I feel about reading the sequels which will feature other characters but the fact that Astrid and Bo’s story, which Jenn told me, is set in the great depression makes me (not so) slightly curious.

I would recommend this to fans of the 20’s (like me) and fans of historical romances who would enjoy reading a good romance that doesn't become the life of a book.

ARC Review: Through the Smoke by Brenda Novak

Title: Through the Smoke
Author: Brenda Novak
Release Date: October 15th 2013
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository

Goodreads Summary

A shocking betrayal…

Riches. Power. An ancient heritage of pride. The Earl of Druridge wanted only for an heir. So when he learned that his wife was carrying another man’s child, he was filled with a thirst for vengeance.

But he wasn’t the one who caused Katherine’s death. Or was he? To his horror, he remembers nothing of that dreadful night, when their last confrontation ended in scorching flame and cold blood.

A forbidden love…

Rachel McTavish, the beautiful daughter of a coal miner, knows something about the fire that took Lady Katherine’s life. In secret, the strong-willed girl strikes a bargain with the desperate earl: he must send his physician to help her dying mother or he may go to the devil—and the scaffold. He agrees, but she is still unsure that her revelation will be enough to save him when so many wish him dead.

Passionately drawn to the nobleman, despite all the doubt and mystery that shrouds him, Rachel wonders if he can really be a murderer. Or if he is the only man who will ever own her heart…

It took me a long time to decide on a rating for this book. I wanted to give it a 5 and a 4 and a 3, which made choosing the closest ‘half’ star a whole lot harder.

My friends who read this book absolutely loved it and while I had a great time reading it, it just didn’t enchant me. I think that was one of the reasons I ended up giving it a 3.5, I expected so much from this book and while I got it, the book didn’t captivate me.

The strongest points of this book for me were the characters and the romance. Novak did a wonderful job developing both.

Lord Druridge lost his wife in a fire. He wasn’t particularly heartbroken about that because there was no lost love between them, she had lived to make his life hell even going as far as to go get pregnant with someone else’s child and calling it his. Because of this the majority of people believe that he was the one who started the fire that killed his wife. Even though he doesn’t remember what happened that night, he is pretty sure that that isn’t true but if he doesn’t prove it, he will be punished for a crime he didn’t commit.

I loved how the author didn’t try to pretty up his character. He owned a mining company and he didn’t really go out of his way to be nice to them. In fact for the most part they barely registered on his radar, because yes he was above them in status so he didn’t really have to care about them. That doesn’t mean he is dense and perceives himself to be the center of the universe. He just realizes that he is from a completely different world from them. He was raised to value honor and duty and he remains true to that for most part of the book. He isn’t a perfect character and he isn’t meant to be. He is human, he feels pain, anger and betrayal just like everyone else but he is also strong. He despairs but never lets it bring him to his knees and he fights because if he doesn’t have faith the real criminal will get away.

Rachel has lost most of her family over the course of the last couple of years until all she has left is her brother. It’s up to her to take care of her brother now as well as manage the bookstore her family has been running for the past couple of years. She despises the Earl because of what he stands for, her brother died while working for the mines and her father lost his job because of him. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with him but because he owns the lease to both the bookstore and the house she cannot just ignore him. It isn’t until her mother is at her deathbed that she gives in and offers up the information she had but her mother ends up dying anyway.

Rachel has tons of pride and doesn’t want help from anyone, especially the Earl. She is willing to starve and work in the mines to feed her little brother but the thing about her is that while this may sound like a bad quality, it works for her, life has made her how she is. Her life wasn’t a fairy tale, it was pretty tough. But even with all her pride, Rachel is not stupid. She knows when it’s time to let go of her pride and accept help. The only thing that bothered me about her character was how in the beginning she was set aside from all the other women because she liked to read and didn’t want to get married. She was speshul flower because she liked to read. Half the female leads in historical romance say the same thing but it bothered me so much more in this case because Rachel was already set aside from the rest of the women in this genre by a factor of things. The fact that the author chose to emphasize the fact that she read and wasn’t really going out of her way to get married disappointed me. Aside from that ‘minor’ issue I enjoyed Rachel’s character as well. She was a strong female lead who’s life did not revolve around the guy she was in love with.

The secondary characters are pretty well developed too. My favorite, Penelope, makes an appearance right in the end. I thought her addition was pretty interesting although I am confused as to why that was necessary.

The romance though was my favorite thing about this book. It was just so realistic. What I loved most about it was that the forbiddeness of their relationship wasn’t romanticized. It was an obstacle. They are worlds apart, they won’t be accepted as a couple. They are likely to be shunned, in fact Rachel was already shunned. At first there was some insta-attraction which bothered the hell out of me but I tried to be rational and realized that it’s alright for people to be attracted to each other right off the bat even if it pisses me off. Aside from that Novak spends such a great deal of time developing the romance. It slowly buds into something beautiful. Truman and Rachel are always supportive of one another but even with all that they realize that they realize that because of their different upbringings their priorities will always be different.

Speaking of relationships, I was pretty disappointed that Novak didn’t really develop Rachel’s relationship with her brother; I was kind of looking forward to it but as it is her brother was barely there, even when she was the earl’s ‘mistress’ her brother was out sleeping in the stables.

The plot seems to take a backseat to everything else going on in the book. Before I say anything else I’d like to say that Brenda does a wonderful job developing suspense, she does it so well that I found myself questioning even Truman but in the end when you find out who the actual criminal was, it was all very anti-climactic. The criminal’s identity seemed pretty obvious but the reasoning behind the whole incident seemed so weak. The actual mystery fell pretty flat too, there didn’t seem to be a lot going on until the very end. I feel like Novak could have made the plot a whole lot stronger and more enjoyable.

In the end though, this book was extremely refreshing, it’s so different from the other historical romances out there. I’d definitely recommend this to fans of historical romances and I’d even go as far to say that those of you vary of HR’s, give this a shot. 

Timeless by Alexandra Monir

Title: Timeless
Author: Alexandra Monir
Series: Timeless #1
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Date Published: January 11, 2011
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.
 Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.

I read this book because of this one review I had read. It was a reviewer I followed and well since she had given it 5 stars and written such a good review for it I though I should read it.

I was looking for a good romance, after reading so many unreleastic teen romances, I needed characters to have the spark.

Even then, I didn’t expect a whole lot when I went into the book, much less to come out with my brain fried.

Writing the review approximately 2 months after reading it I still get goose bumps thinking about it.

Alexandra Monir is a genius. I had wanted to read this book for the romance but I ended up enjoying the whole time travel concept equally.

Monir has a different approach to time travel and for that I am glad. I am so fed up with people always complaining about how traveling back in time will change something in the present blah blah blah. But here it’s about Michele helping out her ancestors. It’s how her help led to the things as they are in the present and that itself is such a unique concept. The way Monir connects everything and brings it all together like pieces of a puzzle makes it so unique. There are still some pieces that are missing or don’t fit but I guess that’s what Timekeeper is for.

Moving on to our main character. I loved Michele. I absolutely loved her. I loved how brave she was and how she was willing to let Philip go even seeing how much it hurt her. I really didn’t think she would be that strong when I started the book. Like I said before, I was vary of the book when I had started reading. But Michele proved to be a lot more than a love sick teenager. She had so much going on and she figured out so many things. I love her for her determination and her will to do the right thing.

Now moving on to our love interest, Philip.

I am not going to say anything about him. Just 4 words. They should get my point across.

I LOVE YOU PHILIP! 

The ending of the book isn’t necessarily like the cliff hanger people make it out to be. It could be viewed as a happy ending were the book a stand alone but if you read the synopsis to the sequel, Timekeeper, that’s when the ending becomes a cliff hanger and that’s why I cannot freaking wait for the book to be out. I need it so bad because there are so many questions in my mind that need to be answered.