A gentle feuding, Johanna Lindsay

The story of Sheena and Jamie. There was a feud between their clans. All her life, Sheena had heard tales about his great cruelty towards her clan. She was so scared of him that she became histerical when she saw him and could not stay in the same roon as him. But he made her sooo hot! She was the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He felt in lust with her before knowing she was from the ennemy clan. Then, it was too late, he was bewitched. He captured her, and forced her clan to give him her hand in marriage. But once married, they had to overcome a new feud between their clans. Whom to give one's loyalty? Sheena was torn between her love for her husband and her love for her family and clan. Jamie was afraid people would question his leadership if he did not retaliate with force agaisnt his wife's clan. But how could he fight against the family of the woman who had become more dear to him than life?

Hearts aflame, Johanna Lindsay

Kristen is the daughter of Lady Brenna and Garrick (Fires of winter). She is very tall and athough she is feminine as well, she is not delicate at all. She is physically strong, and just like her mum, she fights better than most men and she has too much pride for her own good. She is captured by saxons, and become the slave of a Royce, a powerful and most gorgeous saxon. Though Royce is not a viking, he is taller, bigger and stronger than most of them. Just like her mom, she will fall in love with her captor - but not her master, for she will never consider herself a slave, no matter what she is called. Royce had never seen a woman like her. Not only is she incredibly beautiful, but she is also courageous, proud, passionated, strong. She does not cry and whimper like the women he knows. He is not afraid to crush her with his strength, physically or mentally, because in all those she is his match. But if the saxon lord is determined to keep her forever, he is not about to marry her for she is a Viking AND a slave. Problem is, Kristen is not about to settle with a slave status forever. How will they find a satisfying solution?

A powerful saxon lord and his strong and beautiful viking slave, Royce and Kristen, are struggling against the burning desire and the overwhelming love they feel for each other. She may be his slave, but they are equal in so many points: pride, strenght, beauty, education, wealth etc. Good match. Excellent book.

Rightfully his, Sharon De Vita

Book's cover:

"Claiming his family
Sophie was the woman Max McCallister had always loved but couldn’t have. He told himself that he did the right thing when he stepped aside so his brother could marry her. And when his brother hadn’t been able to give Sophie the baby they’d always wanted, he’d agreed to become the sperm donor so they could fulfil their family dreams.
But now his brother was dead, and Sophie was a single mother raising two fatherless little girls. Max could fight his feelings no longer. It was time to claim what was rightfully his – Sophie and his twin daughters…"

So sweet, so tender, so... normal and beautiful. No big money or fast cars. Just tons and tons of love, tenderness and happyness. The twins are adorable children and they add quite much to the story. Romance at its best.

The sicilian's christmas bride, Sandra Marton

“She left him because she had already lasted more than his previous mistresses, she loved him too much, was pregnant, and he did not want to commit to a relationship. Hell, wouldn't even sleep the whole night with her. After the lovemaking, he would leave her bed and go back to his place, in the middle of the night. A few years later, he hires a PI to find her and get his revenge because no woman dumps him!!! He needs closure. He never got the opportunity to tell her he was finished with her before she dumped him. So he'll see her, and make things clear!The idiot! Truth is, he never forgot her because he loved her then, and he still loves her. But would he admit to that?

Fires of Winter, Johanna Lindsay

Lady Brenna is a woman like no other. She fights better than most men, she has too much pride for her own good, she prefers working in the stables than doing "women's work" etc. The list is long. She has been captured by Garrick's father and give to Garrick as his slave. She is full of hate and ideas of revenge. She swore to run away from her captor and is not about to be distracted from her aim. Garrick is a powerful viking chieftain who hates all women since his ex-fiancee left him for a richer man. He only seeks women when her body is too much in need. But it has nothing to do with his feelings, his heart. It is purely mechanical. Lady Brenna will change that. The slave will enslave the viking's heart and the viking will tame the formidable Lady Brenna's heart.

The Brazilian Boss's Innocent Mistress, Sarah Morgan

This is an incredibly beautiful story with very interesting characters, an exotic location and a good insight in Green and Fairtraide issues.

The story takes place mostly in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest, exciting and unusual location. The heroine is a young, naive but strong and idealistic English rose. The hero is a cynic, ruthless and cold Brazilian billionaire.

Rafael is a man committed to preserve the Brazilian rainforest and its inhabitants. Grace owns a coffee chain, Cafe Brazil, which is supplied in coffee by a local fazenda. Rafael financed Grace's chain of coffee shops because he thought it would help the local farmers. But after a few years the fazenda is on the verge of financial ruin because Cafe Brazil is paying a ridiculously low price for the coffee. Rafael decides then to withdraw his loan.

But Grace cannot accept it without a fight! He is renowned for being very bad, without mercy, a real devil in business. He is also very secret; he likes his privacy and preserves that by living in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest. That is enough to discourage senior businessmen, but not Grace. Not because she is tougher than everybody, but because she is an idealistic and trusting girl, who strongly believes there is good in every human being, no matter what is said about them. She obtains an appointment of 10 minutes with him, and flies courageously in the dangerous forest to meet the most dangerous wolf in his lair!

When he first sees her, he is overwhelmed by a surge of masculine lust so intense that it is painful. When she first sees him, she forgets everything and suddenly feels lethargic. The atmosphere between them is clearly electrically charged. He wants to teach her a lesson and plans to journey with her in the forest to introduce her to the poor farmers she is underpaying with no care for the consequences. She is happy to stay, that gives her more than 10 minutes to convince him to extend his loan. A hot romance is about to start in the heart of the rainforest. The heart of the wolf is about to be stolen by the innocence of the English rose.

Grace and Rafael story was deeply moving. The two of them are damaged. Rafael has been abandoned as a child, cheated into marriage by a money-grabbing ex-wife, and constantly chased for his money by gold-diggers. Now he believes that all women are only interested in his money and the good sex he can give. That works for him, since those are the only things he has to offer. His heart, if he has one, is safely guarded. Grace is dyslexic; she was considered stupid at school and has spent all her life trying to prove to everybody that she is worth something. Now though an adult, in the inside she is still a child who tries to gain her father's love. But all her past and current disappointments cannot stop her from believing in the goodness of the human beings and she still has a lot of love to give.

Once she poured her love and trust into Rafael, he had no chance at all but to love her in return. It is an encouragement to all the people who have been damaged by life to never give up on their dreams, on love and happiness. If life is a gamble, better gamble for the best, hum? Not only is it a wonderful love story, but it also gives a good life's lesson. 6 stars and a keeper!

Hot Summer Bride, Sandra Marton

A billionaire is left custody of his niece when his sister died. He hires a beautiful and rich pampered heiress as a nanny. The girls falls in love with the baby and the tycoon. She ends up marrying him to protect the child from going to foster care or to be brought up by an opportunistic money-grabbing grandmother. But they fall in love, etc.

I'm a great fan of Sandra Marton. I loved her Prince's series, and I bought this book because I thought I would enjoy it as much as I did the others. But I was very disappointed. The plot is good, but the way the story is told is a bit ... mechanical. I think she just applied some writing techniques and did not put her heart into it. At the end of the story, I still did not know the characters, I hadn't warmed up to them, and I was not even sure they loved each other. No emotion, not enough interactions between the hero and the heroine, Cold. Cold. Cold. Some little inconsistencies did not arrange things. Earlier in the story the girl says she would like to have a marriage based on love. A few pages later, she says she is not the marrying kind. She is also pictured as very meek; she was not as fiery as you would have expected from an independent heiress. And all through the story, the hero and his lawyer behave towards the heroine like she is some money-hungry woman, when in fact she is a rich and proud heiress. It just didn't add up.

I know Sandra Marton is working on a sheikh series now, and I hope they are going to be incredibly beautiful stories just like her last series (The Italian prince's pregnant bride, The Greek prince's chosen wife, The Spanish prince's virgin bride). No, I don't merely hope. I'm confident she will produce wonderful stories like before. She is too good a writer not to.