New Covers

Quite a few really lovely covers found out and about this past week. It's long! :)

I am so excited that Maggie Robinson's new series is going to be a mass market paperback release (her previous books are all trade which equals higher prices).  I have really enjoyed her work so I am looking forward to the start of the Ladies Unlaced, In the Arms of the Heiress out July 2nd.  The house in the background reminds me a bit of Downton Abbey :)

Oh, pretty!  The Secret Life of Lady Julia will be out May 28th.  Love the blue and the flower and the little attention to detail on her dress.  I will definitely be reading this one.

I really like gold on the cover and with the addition of the purple sky in the background..lovely.  Love and Other Scandals is the start of a new series or a stand alone, not sure yet.  Look for it July 30th.

And now for a stretch of really lovely green covers!  I have yet to read anything by Adrienne Basso so maybe I will change that with How to Be a Scottish Mistress, which is set for release July 2nd.

Nicola Cornick is also an author I have been meaning to read and collecting all her books.  The Lady and the Laird is the start to her new Scottish Brides series so hopefully I get a chance to read it.  Look for it July 30th.

Yay!!  A new Julie Anne Long!  And the cover!  Love.  I love that she is looking right at you and her dress is gorgeous.  It Happened One Midnight is book eight in her Pennroyal Green series and one I can't wait for its  June 25th release!

Juliana Gray was added to my auto buy list this past year and How to Tame Your Duke is the start of a new series, set for release June 4th.  Added to my list to buy!

How to Lose a Bride in One Night (what a fun title!) is book three in the Forgotten Princesses series by Sophie Jordan.  This cover reminds me a bit of Cinderella fleeing the ball so it will be interesting to see if something like that happens in the book which will be out July 30th.

This is such a fun and flirty cover for the newest Cynster novel by Stephanie Laurens.  I also love the attention to the background detail.  The Taming of Ryder Cavanaugh reaches shelves June 25th.

Isn't this an eye-catching cover?  The lighter colors really work well together.  My Notorious Gentleman is book six in the Inferno Club series and should arrive July 30th.

And finally here is the lush cover for the newest from Karen Ranney, The Devil of Clan Sinclair.  I love when they include stepbacks and the gold is very striking.  Look for this title July 30th.

 Whew!  What a great batch of covers!  Which titles are you most looking forward too?

New Covers

Here are some of the lovely new covers revealed recently. . .

The first lovely, lovely cover is for an upcoming debut from Anne Barton.  But sigh...this one doesn't come out until Jan 29, 2013!!  Ah well, it is on my radar and I can't wait to read it!

Sweet Deception is book two Heather Snow's Veiled Deception series and also has a lovely cover that blends beautifully with her debut title.  This one will be out August 7th.

I can't wait to read this anthology!!  Courtney Milan, Sherry Thomas and Carolyn Jewel all in one?!?  Yes, please!  Ms Milan shared this on Facebook and said to look for it in August.

And yet another anthology with another great batch of authors!  Ok, fine.  I have not heard of Carey Baldwin and I'm wondering if she will be the murder story?  The other three authors write historicals so I'm interested to see a synopsis of this one.  Look for it in May.

Oh, I love this one!! I really enjoyed Tiffany Clare's previous serious for its blend of heat, romance and uniqueness so I am so excited to read this one. Wicked Nights With a Proper Lady will be out October 30th.

One more to add!  Gaelen Foley shared the cover for her upcoming release, My Scandalous Viscount, which will be out Sept 25th.  This will finally be the story of Beau and Carissa and is book five in the Inferno Club series.  I like this cover :)

Overall, another great batch of covers all for books I am looking forward to reading!  Did any stand out for you?

My Ruthless Prince by Gaelen Foley

Book four in the Inferno Club, best enjoyed read in order but could be read as a standalone.

~~Drake, Earl of Westwood was captured by the evil Promethean group and tortured beyond reason but never gave up his fellow members of the Inferno Club.  Now he is on a dangerous mission all on his own and has no time for his childhood friend appearing and causing havoc with him and his plans.  Drake is dark and mysterious but generous and not afraid to admit his feelings but has to hide so much behind a mask to protect him and Emily.

~~Emily is the kind of heroine you just have to love.  She is bold, clever and unwavering in her love for Drake.  I loved how our first meeting of Emily she is prepared to fight all the men with her bow and arrow (ok fine my first thought was Katniss!  Hunger Games!  I can't wait for the movie! but I got over that quickly).  She follows Drake without a second thought because she knows she has to fight for the man she loves and everyone else seems to have given up on him and she never will.

~~Their love.  Drake and Emily have a very powerful, moving love for each other that is just wonderful to read and experience.  I loved how there was no tip toeing around the love, that they just admitted to it after all these years.  After all, a gameskeeper daughter and the future Earl are not evenly matched in society but Emily and Drake are evenly matched in spirit and determination.  The only shadow on their love is Drake and his instance on carrying out his plan and in the process, he has to leave Emily mostly in the dark in order to protect her.  This causes some confusion for Emily but her support stays strong.

~~Names...When there are so many characters, especially males, I always get a bit confused when the author changes between the title surname, the first name and in some cases the last day.  I found this to be a bit true in this book as there are five males in the Inferno Club plus numerous men in the Promethean clan so I got easily confused and it threw a small hitch in my reading.

Overall, I thought this was a great ending for Drake, whose story has been building up from the previous books.  This book is full of danger and excitement and passion with a story you soon won't forget.  I thought the final climatic scene was excellent and I could just feel the hope and heartbreak stretching all the characters nerves taught.  I would have liked the epilogue to have been about Drake and Emily and not a set up for the next book but thats just because I wanted to see more of our couple together out of the Promethean house and happy :)    A very satisfactory 4 stars.

A couple sigh-worthy quotes

He shook his head, and said in a strangled tone, "You are too good for me.:
"I was meant for you."


"I love you."
"Never stop.  You are air and light and water to me"

I received this eARC from Avon via netgalley.com and the quotes are subject to change in final version

The Inferno Club
Can be read as standalone but best enjoyed in order

Royal Weddings: An Original Anthology by Stephanie Laurens, Gaelen Foley, and Lorreta Chase

These are three very short stories to keep up with all of the excitement around the big real life royal wedding this April. This first short is by Stephanie Laurens and is the longest and was just ok for me. It is about a wedding planner, which I loved, and an old crush that comes home to his royal cousins wedding. The attraction is still there naturally and he bids his time with the lady. Nothing spectacular but I do believe it features a few characters from previous books of Laurens. Having read none myself, I'm not quite certain. 3 stars

Next is Gaelen Foleys story and really the best of the bunch. It is about a married couple who have lost that spark and are not communicating with each other. One good slap changes that and you get a nice, quick, sexy read set during Princess Charlottes wedding. It worked very well for the length of the story. 4 stars

Finally is Loretta Chases story. Hers is about a titled male who needs to marry a wealthy women to pay his debts. However, at the last minute the young lady decides she wants to marry for love, just as Queen Victoria is. As the heiress loves the male and she believes he cares nothing much for her except for her fortune, she calls off the wedding. This drives the man to despair and true love comes out in the end. I liked this one but felt the storyline would have benefited being full length, or a longer short story. 3 1/2 stars

Overall, a nice addition to the Avon Impulse line and worth the $1.99 price. Just a nice bit of HEAs with a bit of royal wedding history to keep in line with the current royal wedding celebration.
I received this ebook via netgalley.com

My Irresistible Earl by Gaelen Foley

When Jordan, Earl of Falconridge, bumps into his first love, Mara, Lady Pierson after twelve long, secretive years, the spark they once shared is brought back to life. Mara is attending an auction to secure a gift for her friend, Prinny, the Prince Regent while Jordan is their on his mission to find out more about the Prometheans and his undercover work for the Inferno Club. Mara is shocked to see Jordan after all these years and is not about to let him back into her life after he deserted her when she needed him the most to escape her cruel mother. Jordan and Mara meet just at the time when he was being called off to duty for his undercover work as a spy, for which he had trained his young life for, and even though he wanted to marry Mara first, he knew his duty had to come first. Mara marries swiftly afterwards to have her own home away from her nitpicking mother and finds herself in a loveless marriage with a man that dislikes her and drinks his life away. Thankfully, she is able to conceive Thomas, who is now her whole life.

As Jordan and Mara are tentatively feeling out their new relationship, brought more into focus after Jordan rescues Mara from an attack on her carriage because people think she is Prinny mistress as she spends alot of time with him (he is really just Thomas' godfather and they are just friends), Jordan is dealt a new mission....to spend more time with Mara and use her connections with Prinny to gain access to a select card game with one of the clubs prime persons of interest. Jordan wants to refuse but knows he has to accept and does so while he and Mara continue to redevelop their love for each other.

After Jordan decides he needs a bit of a break from Mara, to protect her, Mara takes matters into her own hands and finds Jordan and breaks up an important conversation he is having and he loses his cool with her. She flees and decides she is done with him again and feels her heart breaking. She agrees to hear Jordan out the next day and he confesses his past and reasons for his anger to her. Mara is naturally shocked to find out Jordan is a spy and quickly connects the dots of her and her relationship with the Prince Regent and is furious. Thankfully, this misunderstanding does not last long and the story continues on to quite a satisfactory end, and a cliffhanger epilogue for the next book!

Out of the three Inferno books out so far, this one was my favorite. The first one, My Wicked Marquess sort of set up the premise for this series and the second, My Dangerous Duke , it took me a bit to warm up to the scary duke and the virgin sacrifice plot, but this one is a wonderful story of young love triumphing in the end. While you could read this as a stand alone, there is a continuing plot throughout that may make more sense by reading the previous books. I am really looking forward to the next book featuring the wounded Drake! Some bits and pieces were revealed in this book that should make his story fascinating! My Irresistible Earl offers a great story of love, plenty of twists and turns and intrigue and it kept me wanting to ignore my kids and finish reading it! 4 solid stars for this one
I received this ebook via netgalley.com