Manhattan Millionaire's Cinderella - Sun Chara

The Book
Release Date: 17 October 2013

Will their wedding night be a one-night stand or a merger for keeps?
Global real estate mogul, Cade Sloan should've listened to his own advice: trust no one, and never a woman…especially not his 24 hour bride gone AWOL with his millions. Nina, mousy secretary turned sexy vixen, will repay every penny with interest…

When Cade gears up for a takeover, there's sweet hell to pay. Nina owes her husband a wedding night and he’s hell bent on collecting… his way, his time, his pleasure.

My Opinion  2 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for an honest review**

I requested this book from Netgalley because it sounded like something I would want to read, but I was disappointed by it completely.

The Story jumps quite often from one place to the next, making you fell like you have missed something somewhere.  The plot itself is fairly easy to understand, but has not been written very well and I know that I will not be following this author for further books.

Seducing the Enemy (Heirs of Damon 1) by Noelle Adams

The Book
Release Date: 14 October 2013

After being injured in a tragic accident as a child, Marietta Edwards has lived a sheltered life. Finally recovered, she wants to indulge in pleasures that are entirely new to her, so she begins by seducing a sexy, mysterious stranger. Only after their one-night stand does she learn their families have been embroiled in a fifteen-year legal battle and the man she’s given herself to is her worst enemy.

The heir to a vast fortune, Harrison Damon believes the unforgettable night he spent with Marietta in Monte Carlo is just a fling, an escape from his responsibilities. Then he discovers she is an Edwards—the family he despises most. He can’t quench his attraction for her, but he won’t let her use it against him. He won’t let her manipulate him to win money from his family. No matter how much he wants her, he won’t let her seduce him again.

My Opinion  4 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for an honest review**

This was quite a short book and focused on Etta and Harrison.

Etta had been in a car accident at the age of ten and had been in a wheelchair until a few years ago. She has panic attacks when things change and she has a strong emotional trauma reaction to beer. If she smells it she feels sick.

Harrison has been dealing from the trauma of his parents dying at a young age and then the death of his cousin in the car crash that killed Etta's sister and put her in a wheelchair. He has been in the negotiations for settlement but has not seen Etta since before the accident.

Etta on a night out sees a guys she likes, and at twenty five is encouraged to flirt by her friend, but they end up sleeping together where she tells him its her first time.

Of course its Harrison, and things don't go well when she goes to the meeting the next day and Harrison is very unpleasant.

Etta trys to make things better and goes to see his uncle and explain the situation and it asked to stay the week. Harrison is not happy, but he finds himself pulled towards her. His family find her sweet, charming and love her innocence. All of which he thinks she is acting. But time tells all, and Harrison finds he needs to look back to see the truth where a shocking discovery shatters what they think to be true.

Family pride takes hold and Harrison pushes Etta away. Both miserable, Harrison is finally pushed into action in getting her back and to realising he has unrealistic expectations of his own making.

A lovely read.

Forbidden to Love (The Erosians 1) - Debbie Davies

The Book
Release Date: 28 March 2013

The Gods Made Me. They Own Me. They Rule Me.

Well, they like to think they do.

Almost a year ago I was rejected and banished by Eros the God of Love. Now I've been forced by Eros to live a life of slavery in the mortal world completely forbidden to love anyone but him - unless I want pain, heartbreak and torture to feature heavily in my future.

My hatred for Eros is almost as strong as my desire to escape this life of loneliness, which is looking very unlikely. Until I see him, the auraless mortal, who steals my breath and burns my heart. Now I have to find a way to be with him even if that means losing everything I have and starting a war to end all worlds. Lucky for me this guys willing to kill to give me a life.

I may be forbidden to love but I'm determined to live.

My Opinion  2 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and Debbie Wills for an honest review**

To be honest, I was completely bored with this book.  Nothing stood out as exciting or special and by about 30% of my way through the book I was skimming the pages to get the story and get through it.

It only gets marginally better at the end and even then it doesn't even end on a decent cliff hanger making me wait with baited breath for the next book.  I basically left thinking, thank gods its finished.

In this book we have the Erosians that have been made for Eros, but he has scorned each one of them and told them that they can be with no other, but they do his job of helping mortals fall in love.  He basically acts like a petulant child because he is not getting his own way.

We have Acacia how falls in love with Josh and has two 'sisters', one is basically a bitch and the other acts more like a mother, but they both keep their secrets from Acacia.

Josh we could tell would never be a mortal and i was right.  Even when Acacia ended up in the underworld her relationship with Luca went far too fast to feel real or believable.

I will try to read the sequel when it comes out just to finish the story, but I desperately hope that it is better than this book.

Take Me Home for Christmas (Whiskey Creek 5) - Brenda Novak

The Book
Release Date: 29 October 2013

Christmas is a time for remembering….

Too bad all memories aren't pleasant. Everyone in Whiskey Creek remembers Sophia DeBussi as the town's Mean Girl. Especially Ted Dixon, whose love she once scorned. 

But Sophia has paid the price for her youthful transgressions. The man she did marry was rich and powerful but abusive. So when he goes missing, she secretly hopes he'll never come back—until she learns that he died running from an FBI probe of his investment firm. Not only has he left Sophia penniless, he's left her to face all the townspeople he cheated…. 

Sophia is reduced to looking for any kind of work to pay the bills and support her daughter. With no other options, she becomes housekeeper for none other than Ted, now a successful suspense writer. He can't bring himself to turn his back on her, not at Christmas, but he refuses to get emotionally involved. He learned his lesson the last time. 

Or will the season of love and forgiveness give them both another chance at happiness?

My Opinion  0 STARS
My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.

Although this is book five in a series it can definitely be read as a stand alone book. 

I loved this book.

Sophia from the outside world seems to have it all and was the towns mean girl growing up. However getting pregnant by mistake leads her down a path of regret.

Her husband is controlling and violent when their daughter is not around, but he likes to keep up appearances of a happy healthy marriage.

t is only when he goes missing on their anniversary cruise that the truth about her husband becomes clear. He has cheated the towns people of money and disappeared only to come up dead.

The town believe that Sophia knew about it and hold both her and her daughter responsible. The recovering alcoholic struggles to cope. She opens her house to the town and they take her possessions from her bed to her jewellery, leaving her sleeping on the floor.

Her in-laws have never liked her but they arrange the expensive funeral, then leave her with the bill as they too have been stung by their son. They too blame Sophia.

But Sophia is not the woman she was all those years ago. Her marriage has changed her despite what people think, she has suffered in silence to afraid of what would happen if anything got out.

Ted has been in love with Sophia since they were teenagers and is the only one other than Eve to help Sophia even though he is reluctant to help. However, he is surprised at the change in the real Sophia and how hard she works to keep her daughter and at how strongly she copes with the backlash.

Sophia is often targeted by those how want their money, especially the crooked cop who hounds her relentlessly. Even her daughter is not let free as teachers and friends turn on her.

Ted grows closer to Sophia again as he sees how she copes, working hard at cleaning his house and cooking him meals, whilst being there for her daughter.

When she comes across a letter from a jewellery store about her engagement ring, she sells it, then splits the proceeds to those who lost out in Whiskey Creek. This in turn warms them a little to her even though when she gives money to he in laws they are still distant.

As this is the only book I have read in the series, after reading this book I have decided that I need to add the other books to my reading list.

A book well worth reading.

Healing Rain (Rain Trilogy 2) by Karen-Anne Stewart

The Book
Release Date: 29 August 2013

Shattered when Raina runs after his marriage proposal, Kas is hell-bent to find her and bring her home, where she belongs. He will bend every law necessary to do so, willing to do anything to protect Raina from her demons and the men who haunt her, going as far as placing his career and life on the line to save hers. Raina will give up everything she has worked so hard to achieve, even flee the country to keep Kas from the wrath and powerful reach of her abusive father.

In the midst of the FBI team closing in on the Ghost, another ghost from Raina's past taunts her, promising that she will be his. Meanwhile, a different trafficking ring is gaining strength in New Jersey. Michael solicits Raina's help, needing her smooth, sultry voice to win the audition for the new singer in the ring leader's swanky night club. Raina knows her life is in jeopardy with the dangers of being undercover, but she is blindsided when she discovers that it's her heart that is threatened with a mortal blow. 

Raina tries to heal from the nightmares of her dark past as the grisly bodies of innocent victims surface when the team gets closer to discovering the identity of the man responsible for the infuriatingly clever and powerful slavery ring. When Raina finally comes face to face with the Ghost, he quickly engulfs her in a twisted game of cat and mouse, delivering a veiled threat as he slips through her fingers. As the ghosts of her past and present ensnare her in their deadly web, Raina realizes the danger has just begun.

My Opinion  3 STARS
This book starts exactly where book one finishes so you can't leave it too long between the books else you forget what's happened.

Although I really love the story with this book I have big problems with the writing style. The context constantly jumps from the points of views of her major characters and adds some of the minor characters. Not only that is seems to jump from the first point of view to a third person point of view or more of a narration of their thoughts or feelings, making it seem unrealistic just like with her first book.

However saying that the story was less harrowing than the first and mostly seemed to focus on just Raina and Kas and the relationship between them. Unfortunately bedroom relationship between them was boring and underdeveloped, or just glossed over.

The story continues with the human trafficking issues and Chris emerges as a problem again even though he is still in prison. Raina is used in many situations from her translations skills to her IT skills to her singing ability. She is beaten by her father and has a break down along with getting married. Lots happens in this book, but it feels a little long-winded.

I wait for the ending to see how the story will progress especially as it ended with a cliff hangar.

Outback Affair (Affair 3) - Annie Seaton

The Book
Release Date: 14 October 2013

Jessica Trent wants to be a full-time writer for Cuisine magazine, but in order to land the gig she has to snare a one-on-one with the reclusive Alessandro Ricardo, a man hell-bent on staying out of the limelight. The last thing she expects as she heads to Crocodile Springs resort in northern Australia is to end up traveling across the Outback with a rugged and far too sexy barramundi fisherman.

Ex-lawyer Alex Richards protects his privacy and his heart in equal measure. So when a Yankee bombshell in need of a ride turns up and threatens both, he decides to teach her a lesson. As they make their way through the wild country together, the attraction between them ignites. Alex must choose between his heart or letting go of his past ... and will Jessica understand why he lied once she finds out who he really is?

My Opinion  2 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for an honest review**

2 STARS

First of all I have to say that I was completely unhappy with the ending was this book. It was so completely abrupt and rushed and so just felt completely wrong.

Also I failed to feel the romance between the pair of them, it felt as if it was forced and just thrown together. Certainly not one of the authors strongest books. 

I was completely disappointed by this book.

Dangerous Depths (The Sea Monster Memoirs 2) - Karen Amanda Hooper

The Book
Release Date: 20 November 2013

Hell hath no fury like a selkie separated from his true love.

The gate to the sea creature realm is finally open. Yara wants to bask in the glow of her budding relationship with Treygan and explore Medusa’s world, but as the new leader of Rathe her powers are needed to save a sea creature she’s never met. 

Rownan assumes the worst is behind him when he returns home to be reunited with his wife, Vienna, only to discover she’s gone. She traveled to the evil realm of Harte to find another gateway to Earth and was never heard from again. Rownan claimed he would go through hell to be with her, and now he must prove it. 

Rownan, Yara, and Treygan will put their lives and souls at risk by traveling to the most dangerous realm of all. Love is supposed to conquer all, but no one has ever conquered Harte.

My Opinion  5 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and All Night Reads for an honest review**

Somehow this book was even better than the first. The emotions were so powerfully portrayed at times i had tears rolling down my cheeks.

This time round we are also given Rownan's side of the story along with Nixie's and they really dig into your heart. We are introduced to more brilliant characters and old characters we get to see in a new light.

We see how dedicated Yara and Treygan are to helping Rownan in his search for his wife Vienna. A tightness bonds them together and they learn more about their strengths.

I especially loves the two little sprites, they had such heart and spirit i was cheering for them. And Nixie? Well that siren soared straight to my heart.

If you liked the first book, you will honestly love this one and eagerly anticipate the third book. I know I am !!

Tangled Tides (The Sea Monster Memoirs 1) - Karen Amanda Hooper

The Book
Release Date: 25 November 2011

Yara Jones doesn't believe in sea monsters--until she becomes one.

When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people--until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process--or she might open the gateway to a love that's deeper than the oceans.

My Opinion  5 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and All Night Reads for an honest review**

This book suckered me in from the first page. Yes I can understand that for some of you that this will not be your kind of book, but i'm a sucker for them.

Yara starts of rushing about her uncles house trying to secure the windows as there is a hurricane outside, it is there that she meets a good looking boy who turns her world upside down completely. When she wakes up, she is underwater and has been transformed into a Mermaid. Suffice to say she freaks out and thinks they are all monsters.

Treygan has been there since she was born and although she does not remember him at all has been there for her all her life on a mission with others along with her dead mother.

Yara has grown up with her Uncle Lloyd and he has helped prepare her for the world she will come in contact with without her knowledge. Not is Yara now a Mermaid, but she learns slowly the ways of the Mer-folk and how they have become trapped in the human world away from their home. She also discovers that not only was her father a Selkie, but that her mother was a siren.

Unfortunate accidents occur that bring Treygan and Yara further together and they form an emotional bond to each other, but Treygan tries his best to pretend that it is not there. It is clear however tho those closet to them that they have formed a close bond and are falling for each other.

Rownan is Treygans half brother, and where Treygan is a mer-man, Rownan is a Selkie. He has been up on land for the last few weeks gaining Yaras trust and being there as her boyfriend without the label. Rownan and his Selkie kind have their own designs on what they want with Yara. Rownan is charged with getting them what they want, how they want it.

Again after having been foiled by Treygan as few times the Selkies come close to their goal, however a conflicted Rownan goes to his father a Gorgan for help. He no longer feels comfortable with their plan. His father comes up with a better plan that will involve the help of others and may also cause his demise.

Unbeknownst to Treynan that plan is hatched and Yara is clued into the plan as it means that Treynan will no longer have to died and trade his life for hers. A plan that would have failed anyway. With love in her heart and great strength, Yara and those around her in the plan put things into motion, even if some things don't go quite as they thought they would.

In the end however someone has to die and so Yara does. It is only when she is in the in-between that she can plea bargain with those with the power to help both sides of the party. 

Treynan is distraught that Yara has gone and sits with her stone body until it starts to crack. He is amazed to find skin underneath and helps her out of her casing. That however is when the gate opens and the Gardon whisks away Yara from his arms.

The creatures who were trapped out of their realm, swim in and Treynan is last, where he finds himself outside the place where he knows that Yara is trapped. He vows to stay there until he can see her. It is not long before the transformed but happy Yara finds him and they can be togther.

I really loved this story, but then I love most books with this kind of story and folklore mix.

Out of the Shadows and into the Darkness - Senta Holland

The Book
Release Date: 21 February 2013


A deeply felt and superbly written BDSM love story, Senta Holland’s Out of the Shadows explores the beautiful darkness in seven bedrooms.

Senta, a thirty something Londoner, travels around the planet looking for the man who can match her. The one she finds is her ‘Nai’, a high society American in Asia.
Senta's story is both complicated and made more exciting by the fact that it unfolds in the dark world of BDSM, a world that can be hostile to single, independent females.
Highly erotic, deeply romantic and insightful this book shows the BDSM experience from the inside out, as reality, not just fantasy.
If you liked  The Bride Stripped Bare and The Secret Diary of a Submissive, you will love Out of the Shadows.

My Opinion  1 STAR
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for an honest review**

I just could not get on with this book. Its not the subject matter that i had a problem with as i have very diverse tastes, it was the style of writing.

It was more of a literary prose than a novel/story and the first story was very disjointed. I ended up having to put this book down 20% of the way through as i new it wasn't for me.

Spellbound - Emmie Dark

The Book
Release Date: 15 March 2013

Belle is a modern-day witch who's had a bad run with men. And she's not that good at the magic stuff, either. When her boyfriend leaves her feeling undesirable, Belle conjures up a night of perfect passion with a phantom version of her super gorgeous neighbour Nicholas Marchetti. But after an amazing night, Belle realises it was the real Nick. And when Nick discovers Belle's powers, he is confused and wary. And to top it all off, it seems someone is using magic to try to keep the would-be lovers apart.

Angst, lust – and Aunty Gertrude – all play a part in this sizzling erotic romance that begins and ends in the bedroom.

For those who like their romance hot, hot, hot!

My Opinion  4 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and Penguin Books Australia I Destiny Romance for an honest review**

A paranormal romance with a twist of mystery and intrigue.

Belle is a witch, but she has never been any good at spells. In fact she has to do most things the human way she's that bad.

After a time where she has been boyfriend less for a while she decides that she needs to conjure a boyfriend for the night and decides she wants him to look like her very sexy neighbour.

Unfortunately things do not go well with the spell, however Nick does turn up at her door so she thinks that the spell worked.

Things don't go quite well for the pair and they end up avoiding each other for a week before they meet again and lust and attraction pull them together along with the helping of Aunt Gertrude.

Misunderstandings, theft and emotions get in the way of their romance and Aunt Gertrude has to intervene and give Nick a push in the right direction to break a curse.

A little magic can go a long way and cause all sorts of problems. A good light read.

Mine to Hold (Mine 3) - Cynthia Eden

The Book
Release Date: 21 October 2013

She was one man’s obsession…

Nine years ago, Claire Kramer’s lover brutally killed her family, and he tried to kill her. She escaped, but she’s been haunted ever since that attack. Too afraid to trust another man and too worried that her past will catch up with her, Claire never gets too close to anyone. But then she meets Noah York.

He must have her.

Noah York is a man with secrets. The world sees him as a billionaire hotel tycoon, but Noah has a dark and dangerous side. For years, he worked covert military operations before he built his fortune. When it comes to death, Noah is a master. He knows that he should steer clear of Claire, but the white-hot attraction Noah feels for the delicate beauty is instant—and consuming.

He will never let her go.

Someone else is just as consumed by Claire—someone who will kill to possess her. And if Noah can’t stop the hunter in the darkness, he may just lose the one woman that he can’t live without.

My Opinion  5 STARS

**ARC Provided by Netgalley and Cynthia Eden for an honest review**

This book was just as good as the last.  Claire has already been through so much and she has lost another job.  She is desperate.  She goes to New York, to a man who she hopes can help her.  Noah York  A man she met when she turned up to find her sister murdered in Chicago.

Noah first met Claire when she was trying to escape the studio apartment that Skye had lent her for her safety.  When he tried to stop her from leaving she gave him a split lip and he had to restrain her before taking her the front of the building to confirm that he was not there to hurt her.

Claire has lived in fear since she was sixteen, she tried to kill herself once, and now has nothing.  she has no family, no money, no job and no where to live.  The past always finds her and she has to move on again.

Noah gives her the job he wants, but he also tells her that he wants her.  But he doesn't fuck his employees and tells her he wont touch her until she asks him to.

However it does not take long for the past to catch up with her, making her even more afraid of the people around her and she runs.  Noah however is not going to let her run away from him.  He wants to protect her and he will do anything to make sure that she is safe.

Trace  and Drake are pulled into the situation when they realise how serious Noah is about Claire and they worry about their friend and the limits of his control.  For when Noah loses his control people die.

The mystery is interwoven well into the story and you never quite know who the killer is.  All the people who have hurt her start dying in the way that her parents died and it frightens Claire.  Noah however is with her and he and his friends are out there searching for answers around every corner.

He helps with her fear and refuses to let her beg for anything.

Claire realises how far she would go to save Noah when the killer turns up when she herself shoots him before turning and running to Noah.  But the danger is not over like she thinks it is.  Noah whisks her back to his beach house where things take a turn for the worst and Claire is faced with her worst nightmare.  The man that killed her parents, her only ex-boyfriend.

There is of course a confrontation between the three of them and Claire does what she can to ensure Noah is safe, she offers to go with him as long as he leaves Noah alone.  But it doesn't work.  He is angry that she would try to sae him and she is shot.  That is when Noah makes his move and removes the threat permanently.

CLaire fights for her life as Noah rushes to get her to a hospital where Drake and Trace find him right on the edge of his control, knowing he will lose it completely and possibly forever if she should die.

We get out happy ending though as she pulls through and only a short while are married.

I do hope that we get a story for Drake.  The man is always there for his friends and you can see his darkness, waiting for the light to show him the way to happiness.

Mine to Keep (Mine 2) - Cynthia Eden

The Book
Release Date: 16 September 2013

Love is the most dangerous obsession…

Skye Sullivan is trying to put the pieces of her life back together. She survived a brutal stalker and escaped his abduction, and now she is looking to the future—a future that includes Skye’s lover, billionaire Trace Weston. Skye thinks the danger is finally over for her.

She’s dead wrong.

When Trace’s past comes back to haunt him, Skye discovers that the man she loves isn’t quite who he seems to be. Trace has been leading a double-life. An ex-special forces agent, his military training turned him into the perfect killing machine. He made more than his share of enemies during his time in the military—and as he built his security empire—and one of those enemies is striking back.

He won’t lose her.

Skye is the one weapon that can be used against Trace—his only vulnerability. But he won’t let her go—he can’t. Trace will do anything necessary to protect Skye. Anything. Yet when she discovers the secrets that he’s tried to keep hidden, Skye’s pain and rage may send her running directly into the cross-hairs of a killer…

My Opinion  5 STARS

**ARC Provided by Netgalley and Cynthia Eden for an honest review**

WOW.  I totally loved this book and was completely riveted.  There were so many twists and turns in the mystery of who the killer was that I never even guessed at the correct answer.  It could have been any of them.

The suspense mind blowing, the emotions brilliant and the story was woven together so well, that I just didn't want to out the book down.  I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next, I NEEDED to find out who the culprit was.

Skye and Trace are together again in this book and we are also introduced to some new characters, Drake, Noah, Claire, Sara and Anna- Jean.  Reese and Alex are also still there and an integral part of the story.

Ben, a man from Trace's past comes to them and warns Trace that there is danger on the way, but Trace does believe him until Ben turns up dead the next day.  The message is that who ever it is will take away the most precious thing in his life, Skye.

Trace ends up telling Skye about his military past and how he made his money as she is introduced to former military colleague and friends, but you never knew fully if you could trust them.  We are told of a black-ops mission they did and of a failed mission in which they were betrayed and Trace had ended up killing a friend due to it.

The friends and lovers race against the odds to find out who the person behind it all is and Alex the cop has it out for Trace, he just doesn't see him as an innocent guy.    In some ways all of the characters have suffered in some well and therefore they all mesh well into the group dynamics.  They can see what the other needs, the sadness and strength.

The ending?  OMG.  I so did not see who it was coming.  It was explosive and completely brilliant and I sooooo want to be a fangirl about it.  I LOVED THIS BOOK.  Pretty much wishing I had a paper version of the book instead of the ebook so that I can be odd and hug it. (Yes, I know, I'm a little strange).

A completely brilliant sequel by Cynthia Eden.

Cinderella Screwed Me Over - Cindi Madsen

The Book
Release Date: 22 October 2013

Darby Quinn has a bone to pick with Cinderella. Burned one too many times by ex-boyfriends, Darby has lost all belief in the happily-ever-after that the fairy-tale princess promised her. She's sworn off love, Prince Charmings, and happy endings and she's happy about it. Really. Or at least she was…until she met Jake, her gorgeous neighbor and the manager of her favorite restaurant. But Darby has rules about dating, ones she's culled from her years spent with so-called “princes,” and starting something with Jake would break all of them.

Charming, fun, and unwilling to give up on her, Jake doesn’t fit any of the profiles Darby has created from her case studies of ex-princes-gone-bad. Finally presented with her own Prince Charming, can Darby take a chance on a happily-ever-after?

Full of wit and sarcastic humor, Cinderella Screwed Me Over proves that sometimes the perfect love, like a perfect pair of shoes, is just within your grasp.

My Opinion  5 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for an honest review**

Do fairy tales and Disney Princesses really screw us up from the moment we watch them? Do we grow up led to believe that all relationships and loves will be like the movies where everything will have its happy ever after?

Darby grew up watching the movies and hearing the stories like the rest of us, however after years of being in the dating game she has grown ever increasing disillusioned with the concept and of love and the happy ever after.

Each of her failed relationships she has put against fictional characters such as Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Prince from Cinderella and all the others. She has put in place rules with her dating. No men that tell lies, don't live in the same building or where she works or eats and countless other rules just to ensure that she no longer gets hurt in the relationship stakes.

Her best friend is getting married and Darby is alone again and has decided that men are just no worth it when she meets Jake. After coming to rescue with her shoe he pursues her, trying to get her to go out with him. He is slow yet steady in his pursuit and is never very pushy, but just enough to get her to agree to seeing him, even though he already has two strikes against his name.

Darby is cynical in love and is honest in telling people in what she feels, she doesn't lie and tells the truth the way she sees it. However she often finds herself in situations in which she is the only single woman there making it awkward when they start telling their own loves stories.

I love how patient Jake is even as you can see her rebelling and still trying to push Jake away. She is always trying to find the fault with his so they can break up before feelings and other things get in the way.

Darby is an interior decorator, whilst Jake is the co-owner of the restaurant Blue where she frequents quite often. He has only recently got back from the restaurant that he has opened in Vegas, hence never having met him before.

We get to find out about a lot of Darby's ex-relationships and who she identifies each man to and where is all went wrong. We find out how Disney screwed us over and how we build up our expectation too high.

I loved the first 75% to 80% of the book. I found it witty and funny and found myself laughing at the way the story was portrayed. However I found the last 20 to 25% I found to be lacking in something, however the book does feel very real in its approach. Many of us i'm sure can relate even in a small way to the book and the failed relationships.

A very good read.

Baiting the Boss - Coleen Kwan

The Book
Release Date: 14 October 2013

For years Grace Owens harbored a secret crush on her boss, Jack Macintyre, the heir to the Macintyre Corporation. But Jack relocates to a remote tropical island after tragedy upends his life, cutting off all contact. Now Grace’s new boss issues an ultimatum: return Jack to the family fold or pack her briefcase and move on.

When she turns up at Jack's bungalow, he can’t deny his attraction to the fiery woman determined to lure him out of his tropical paradise. Little does she know that returning is the last thing he wants—he’s nobody’s boss, and he likes it that way.

If he stays, she'll lose her job. If he goes, she'll lose her heart.

My opinion  3 STARS
**ARC Provided by Netgalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for an honest review**

Grace has had a crush in Jack since she started her job three years ago. They even went out on friday lunches after he smelled her soup one day.

However not long after his wife died in a car crash and he left the family company, sold his shares and left Australia altogether. 

Grace has been sent by his grandfather to bring him back home.

Jack was raised by his grandfather after his parents died when he was nine. When his wife died, he re-evaluated his life after an argument with his grandfather and sold everything going traveling around europe.

For the long year he has been living on an island not far from Hawaii. Grace proves to be both stubborn and a temptation and he is fist slightly hostile to her before finding he cant keep his hands off her. She tells him about her past, something she normally does not talk about.

When he sends her back on the boat without him he feels odd and ends up bring the boat back and going with her.

The reunion with his grandfather does not go well and he turns up at her flat wanting a place to stay. The first two nights he sleeps in her flat mates bed alone. The next as her flat mate comes back early he sleeps in her bed, but they both have erotic dreams. He wakes up with a breast in his hand and they do the dirty before going back sleep. 

They share a kiss in the office which is seen by some of her colleagues and she then avoids him and he sleeps at a hotel. She has been given yet another special project she doesn't want to do and tells her boss she is not happy.

At a ball she has had to help plan she tells her boss she is not happy again and tells him she has started to find another job. He fires her.

Jack sees her unhappy and gets info from her then tears after his grandfather and they have a better talk than they ever have.

Jack is due back to the island the next day but goes looking for Grace and finds her at her old haunt. He takes her to a building opposite her flat and up to the penthouse. Her dream home. He has bought it for her and tells her he loves her and that he wants to marry her.

Is a sweet story, but things happen on the fast track. Although the emotions are good, it failed to connect with me and i found it a little meh. It lacked something to pull me in and feel real.

However it is a good read.

Julia (The Good Life 1) - Sarah Krisch

The Book
Release Date: 8 August 2013

A failed actress, twenty-something Julia McCarthy begins writing a fictionalized blog as a form of self-therapy. Based on her carefree summers at her grandparents' farm, she never expects her little experiment to garner a viral following, but it does. Boy, does it ever.

Now, with thousands of loyal blog followers, and a syndication deal with the Chicago Herald, Julia is approached by GreenTV to adapt her blog into a TV show. The producers see her as a "Rachel Ray on the Prairie-type". She sees herself as a fraud.

In Julia's fictional world, she's successful. She can pay her bills on time. Heck, she even has a fictional gorgeous husband and charming little boy. Ready to realize her dreams, Julia returns to her grandparents' farm to shoot the TV pilot.

Brad Taylor is definitely not her type: he’s rugged, sensible, and oh-so smug about learning that Julia’s blog is a farce. As the manager of her grandparent’s farm, Brad doesn’t have time to deal with whimsical women who don’t even know how to cook. 

Julia can't allow her attraction to Brad to distract her, not when her dreams are about to come true. But are these truly her dreams, her good life? 

A fun, fast (150 pages) contemporary romance

My Opinion  3 STARS
My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.

This is a soft book showing that you almost miss seeing the good things you have in life until they are pointed out at you. We all at some point be who we think we should be, instead of who we really are, and do what makes us happiest.

In this book, Julia is a failed actress that writes a successful blog, writing posts about her grandparents farm, but has her as married and with a child. In actual fact she just blogs and works part time in a coffee house in the city.

When she lands a TV deal from her blog, she goes back to the farm and has a fake husband and son turn up after having explained everything to her grandparents.

However before the fake husband and kid arrive, she meets a boy she grew up with Brad, who back from the army, is now working on her grandparents farm.

Heat, lust and attraction bring the pair together, but he soon sees through the charade of the fake marriage. But after a night of passion the TV crew arrive and he knows he cant hold her back from her dreams.

A month later, back in the city, Julia is flagging but the show is going from strength to strength. It is her manager that gives her the idea of going back to the farm for the life that she really wants.

A good book that doesn't hit the emotions deep, but gives you a warm feeling at the end as it all pans out.