New Covers

Some new covers for you this week. . .

I really enjoy Cara Elliott for her super sexy fact paced books and I love the cover for her newest title, Too Dangerous to Desire.  This is book three in her Lords of Midnight series and should hit shelves November 20th.

Oh, another pretty red cover!  Cecilia Grant writes some beautiful love stores and we can expect A Woman Entangled January 29th.  It fits in beautifully with her previous covers!

Elizabeth Hoyt is always on top of my must buy list and can't wait for list and Lord of Darkness is no exception!  I like how the cover is soft but the title implies darkness...and it has a nice sexy stepback as well!  I love stepbacks :)  This one won't be out until February 26th, sob!

Miranda Neville also shared a picture of her upcoming book, The Importance of Being Wicked.  How can you not be excited about a book with that title?  She did say the cover is not yet final so that is why it is just a picture and I can't wait to see a more detailed view of it as it looks delicious :)  This one will be out November 27th.

Well, a somewhat quiet week but all books that I am eager to read!  It seems we are now on a trend for red...gold and white have made strong showings with some earlier titles.  What about you?  Looking forward to any of these titles?

Happy Release Day!!

It looks like a good release day to me!  I love the cover on Along Came a Duke and since it is the start of a new series and I have yet to read anything by Elizabeth Boyle, I will be picking this one up!  I was lucky enough to read an ARC of A Night Like This and it is sure to please Julia Quinn fans!  Winter Garden is a reissue with a new cover.  Even though I didn't love Cecilia Grant's debut, I am still going to read A Gentleman Undone and hope I like this one a bit more.  Unexpected Pleasures is a new one from Mary Wine.  And finally, an ebook novella from Carrie Lofty, A Little More Scandal (for only 99 cents!).

Hope there is something that catches your reading taste this week!  Next week we see new releases from Samantha Grace, Jayne Fresina, Sally Mackenzie, Cheryl Ann Smith, and Donna MacMeans.

A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant

Well, I have been wanting to read this book for a long time it seems.  First I was drawn to the gorgeous cover (although the modes hair color is wrong and I do believe Ms Grant acknowledged that but its still pretty) then I was drawn to the interesting sounding plot.  So when I saw this up on Netgalley I grabbed it and happily dove in.  It started off great but then the middle dragged a bit too much for me.  Thankfully the ending picked back up and it finished out strong.  Here are some of my thoughts. . .

~~Martha Russell is newly widowed and when the terms of her late husbands will become known, she is desperate to keep the estate for some pretty selfless reasons.  She comes up with the idea to hire a lover for a month in a desperate attempt to get pregnant and pass the child off as her late husbands and hopefully keeping control of the estate.  The resulting actions portray Martha as a cold woman who is very intent on her one purpose and has no room for pleasure so for most of the book it seems a bit clinical.  But like I said, her reasons are truly selfless so I did warm to Martha a bit in the beginning but it took almost until the end for me to truly like her.

~~Theophilus Mirkwood has just been given a set down by his father for his rather frivolous lifestyle and when the unassuming Martha proposes her plan to him, he accepts as he is in need of funds due to the fact his father has cut him off.  But he is quickly met with the glacier wall of Martha and it takes a whole lot for that wall to finally thaw and for him to teach her the true delights of the bed.  Theo was fun and I really enjoyed him during his scenes.  He has a natural charm with his tenants but still bungles that up from time to time and Martha is the perfect counterpart to that.  Theo is extravagant in his life and unconstrained yet generous and as a result, enjoyable to read.

~~The secondary characters add a nice balance of normalcy to this book.  There is alot of talk about opening a school and Martha is almost like their champion to help all the underprivileged boys and girls get some education.  But on the flip side of that...I almost felt like there was a bit too much talk about the poor and their needs and found myself skimming bits of it.  It was great to see both Martha and Theo develop proper relationships with their tenants and come up with a solution that would benefit both. 

Overall I liked this book but I didn't love it as much as I hoped.  I really struggled with the first half and felt like the pacing was a bit slow for me.  Miranda is unfortunately compared to a corpse for her lack of response during all the intimate moments and I feel like that is sort of a decent comparison for her.  Her heart was in the right place but she would not open her mind to Theo and I just wished that had happened a bit sooner.  It really picked up halfway through though and I really enjoyed the ending.  The writing was good and seemed to flow well and I chuckled a few times, which is always a bonus.  This is Cecilia Grants debut novel, and though I struggled,  I am looking forward to more as I am sure she has a wonderful career ahead of her!  3 1/2 stars

Couple of quotes that stood out for me

"Why me?  I suppose you've heard I'll rut anything that moves"

"Martha...it suits you.
I should say so.  A plain, solid name.
If you wish it to be.  Or music, if you prefer.  All composed of breath and murmur, and sounds that never stop until you want them to."

I received this eARC from Bantam via netgalley.com

New Covers!

I found a few new covers that have posted to various sites! 

First up, Miranda Neville released her new cover for her upcoming March 2012 release, Confessions From an Arranged Marriage on the fun site The Ballroom Blog . It fits in beautifully with the other covers in this series!


















I also came across two new covers for Sophia Nash upcoming new series set to release back to back in February and March.  Both are very eye catching with their bold, single color scheme.
















Also noticed was for Cecilia Grants second book, A Gentleman Undone set for May 29th.  Ms Grant is an author that I am so excited to read!  She has been getting great buzz for her debut book, A Lady Awakened which is out Dec 27th and this new cover fits in perfectly with that one. 








If the Slipper Fits has caught my attention as it is the start of Olivia Drakes Cinderella Sisterhood series and I love a Cinderella story!  The cover seems to reflect the Cinderella story or theme as well.  Look for it May 2012.










Wedded in Scandal looks to be the start of a new series from Jade Lee coming in March.  I don't see much info on this yet :)
















The second novel in Tessa Dares Spinsters Cove series is releasing the end of March and this looks to be the cover but I am sure the official unveiling will be on The Ballroom Blog soon :)  (Sort of reminds me of Anne Mallorys In Total Surrender)

And finally, this isn't really a new cover as an updated cover with an updated title. Miss Hillary Schools a Scoundrel is the debut novel from a fellow Wisconsinite Samantha Grace and I am really excited to read this one and so happy to have received it from Netgalley.  Look for the book out in February!  I should read it in January and have a review as well then :)  




Well, hopefully a few of these caught your eye and attention!  I have to say, all the art departments at the publishing houses seem to go above and beyond for great covers lately!  But since these are all books out next year, these covers can change at any time :)

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a a weekly blog hop hosted by Breaking the Spine where we all mention one upcoming book release we are waiting for.

This week by WoW title is A Lady Awakened, the debut novel from Cecilia Grant releasing Dec 27th.  Here is the goodreads.com summary:

Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate and beloved servants from her malevolent brother-in-law, Martha Russell conceives a daring plan. Or rather, a daring plan to conceive. After all, if she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured. Forsaking all she knows of propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes . . . for a fee.

Theophilus Mirkwood ought to be insulted. Should be appalled. But how can he resist this siren in widow’s weeds, whose offer is simply too outrageously tempting to decline? Determined she’ll get her money’s worth, Theo endeavors to awaken this shamefully neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh—only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain. Surely she can’t resist him forever. But could a lady’s sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all . . . love?

This book has quite a lot going for it...it has a beautiful cover and quite a bit of high praise from high profile authors such as Eloisa James and Mary Balogh so that makes me very eager to read it!  It has a very interesting premise and I am very anxious to see if Ms Grant can deliver a wonderful HEA!  Lots of awesome books coming out on Dec 27th but this is one at the top of my list!