A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Wow, what a book. I don't normally write up books I listen to on audio, why, I don't know, but I just wanted to say a few things about this one. First, the narrator was excellent. They can make or break a book and this one (Jennifer Ikeda) did an awesome job. From Matthews slight accent to when he dipped back into his roots and spoke more Frenchly to all the different woman, Diana, Aunt Sara, Emily (please forgive me if I am spelling anyones name wrong, I have not seen the book to confirm) she delivered a great performance that had me keep on going with all 20 cds. That is the second thing about this book....it is loooong (24 hours of listening) but gooood. Deborah Harkness is obviously a gifted writer to be able to weave all the history, real and fantasy, and keep the reader hooked on the tension between our couple, Matthew (a vampire) and Diana (a witch) and all their extended families.

I do believe the back of the book sums this book up perfectly so I am just going to copy what was written:
Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. . . . This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but is contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series--with an extra serving of historical realism.

Sums it up about right for how I felt. If you are looking for something to fill that void of Twilight but with a more mature sounding voice (their is nothing really explicit, just more grown up sounding) than try this one. I am eagerly looking forward to two more books and seeing what the future holds for these star-crossed lovers. 4 stars

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean

Finally....Juliana and Simons story, and what a story it was! We first meet the lovely, feisty, bold, impulsive Juliana Fiori as she is thrust in London society into the care of her twin half brothers, whom she had no clue existed and vice versa, in Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and we get a couple glimpses of Simon, Duke of Leighton. Simon is known as the Duke of Disdain as he has no tolerance for anything but a pristine reputation. So when he learns that Juliana is barely a respectable lady in Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord due to her mother, he knows they can never be as he needs his perfectly polished reputation now more than ever. As a result, he knows he must propose marriage to the perfectly proper Lady Penelope Marbury. Oh, but it can not just be as simple as that. Juliana proposes a dare to Simon that she can bring him to his knees in just two weeks. He agrees and puts of his proposal until that time. And let the fun begin!

There is just so much to love about this story! Juliana is always muttering in her native Italian and when she realizes that Simon is fluent in Italian, whoops! I enjoyed her confusion with the English language, even though it happened quite often, it's just part of her. We get to see more of her yummy brother Gabriel and Nick and their reaction to certain situations involving their sister and this stuck up duke, priceless.

Sigh, watching these two fall in love was such fun. Simon is determined to resist her and help his family overcome a shattering secret, even if it breaks his own heart in the process. There is a scene where he sees Juliana in the gorgeous black dress pictured on the front and you just know he is done for, because, really, who would be so bold to wear black to a ball when not in morning? Ah, on one but the feisty Juliana who is determined to prove that Simon needs passion in his life.

I could prattle on and on about this wonderful book but really, all you need to do is read it and savor it. Sit outside one afternoon with some wine and just enjoy it. I personally loved Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake and it is what started my new obsession with the historical romance genre, and while Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord was good, it just was not as good as Nine Rules. Oh boy though, Eleven Scandals may be my new favorite now...I just can not quite decide. All three are on my keeper shelf though and I am sad to see an end to this series and these characters. I was hoping Callies brother got a HEA and since Ms MacLean is working on a new book, I really hope he is featured sometime! I have no complaints for this book except I wanted more, not a bad thing to want :) I first read this book when I got the ebook two months ago and I had to skim it a bit to refresh the details and it was still just as good. I can not wait to purchase my own copy and read it again and again. It is that type of book, something to make you smile, laugh, sigh and wish for your very own duke. 5 wonderful stars!!

Thanks to netgalley.com for providing me with this ebook!

Everyone Loves A Hero by Marie Force

After hearing many good things about Marie Force and her books, I am happy to add to the great praise she gets. This is a sexy book about love at first sight and some bumps along the way to their happy ever after. First Officer Cole Langston landed a plane during some unfortunate circumstances and is reluctantly a hero and in the spotlight. Just when the hoopla is finally settling down a bit, he stops to get some Mentos at a shop in the airport and sees a man giving the cashier a hard time. When he asks the man to back off, he gets a fist to the face and the next face he sees is that of the beautiful cashier, Olivia. There is a jolt between them and then he is carted off to the hospital with just her face burned into his memory. The next time he is in Olivias airport he seeks her out and the relationship goes full steam from there. They start up a hot, sexy long distance relationship. Cole plans some sweet surprises for Olivia and it is clear that these two have fallen hard for each other, fast.

This is a great contemporary novel to soak away a day with. Yes, Cole is a bit too perfect and I wanted to smack Olivia a few times for her insecurities with him and I really didn't care for the wrench that was thrown in at the end with an ex, but overall, it still made me smile, sigh, sweat, and cry a bit at the end. Looking forward to getting to the rest of Marie Forces books! 4 stars

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

Just a quick, short review about a series most people have already read but as I am late to the historical romance bandwagon, I'm still catching up!

Fun, light hearted romance with a big, loving, noisy, bossy family. While not perfect (didn't quite agree with Daphnes actions at one point even if they were unintentional) I enjoyed Simons struggles to get over his horrible childhood with his horrible father, if you can even call him that. Very excited that there are seven more siblings to enjoy! Oh, I love the ABC naming thing....helps me as the reader keep track of birth order, lol

Computer down

My computer has not started since Friday so sorry for no new posts! Hopefully tomorrow it will be fixed finally and I can get caught up this weekend. So annoying when you don't have your computer...!

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