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1) Fourth Grave Beneath my Feet by Darynda Jones: B
2) The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand: B+
3) 'Twas the Night After Christmas by Sabrina Jeffries: B
4) Seducing Mr. Knightly by Maya Rodale: B
5) The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts: B
6) Lord's Fall by Thea Harrison: C
Upcoming Review.
After mourning her fiancé for two years, it is time for Lady Anne Hayworth to say her final goodbye and move on with her life. In order to do so, she hires Captain Crimson Jack, a notorious privateer, to take her to Scutari where her fiancé lost his life during the war. However, Crimson Jack will only accept a kiss as payment, nothing else and Anne has no choice than to agree, even knowing the risk... and as expect, the kiss leads to much more.
Once they are back in London, Anne expects them to go their separate way where she will accept the courtship of Lord Chetwyn. However, Anne had no idea that Crimson Jack's true identity is Lord Tristan Easton, one of the three lost lords of Pembrook who came back two years ago to reclaim their birthright in the midst of scandals... and that the man has no intention to relinquish his claim on her. Tristan doesn't know what it is about Anne but for her, he is willing to revert back to being a gentleman and rejoin the ton.
I have a bit of a mixed feeling when it comes to Lord of Temptation, because it wasn't exactly what I expected... Still overall, I enjoyed this book. I thought it was very interesting that even after two years, the lords of Pembrook were still not readily accepted by Society, even though it was their birthright and all they did was reclaim it. I also liked the fact that Tristan maintained both his identity as Lord Tristan and Crimson Jack. It was intriguing and I guess it really reflected the dilemma he was facing. He was born in one world and made by the other and thus, he was the combination of both and both were integral parts of him. It made for an interesting character. As for Anne, well she was a contradiction for me. I liked her spirit, her personality and admired her courage, the fact that she went away to say goodbye to her fiancé, that she stood up to her father and brothers. However, I didn't see the same woman when it came to the matters of heart and marriage. It was clear she had feelings for Tristan, so why not defy everything and be with him? Why allow Lord Chetwyn to court her? Because of that, I thought the romance was a bit flat to me. It should have been more passionate, more romantic, but it wasn't. What kind of save the romance for me though is Lord Chetwyn. It's rare for me to like the third party, but Chetwyn was such a gentleman. Of course, his reasons for wooing Anne were all wrong, but he was honest and the fact that he stepped aside for Tristan, I think it said a lot about his character. After reading Lord of Temptation, I was really hoping that Chetwyn would get his own story and he did. Deck the Halls with Love is a novella, but I'll take it! :)
Overall, I didn't love this book as much as I wanted, but I did like and enjoy it. Romance and characters aside, I think it would have worked better for me if Ms Heath had included more interactions between Tristan and his brothers. It's been two years after all and it seems there hasn't been much improvement in their brotherhood and that makes me sad. Hopefully, we'll get that in Rafe's book, Lord of Wicked Intentions.
8) Did you Miss Me? by Karen Rose: B++
Upcoming Review.
9) Lord Stillwell's Excellent Engagements by Victoria Alexander: A-
Upcoming Review.
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Balance
Books bought: +16
Books read: -9
TBR pile: +7
Genres
Contemporary Romance - 2
Historical Romance - 4
--> (Regency - 4)
Mystery/Thriller - 1
Paranormal Romance - 1
Romantic Suspense - 1
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As you can see, November was a slow month and it's such a shame because it started out so well! End of October, beginning of November, I was really in the reading zone... and then, I fell while playing curling and ended up with the concussion. Sigh. I was not allowed to read, but eventually, I started cheating because there were books I really wanted to read LOL. Given the circumstances, I guess 9 is better than nothing :)
Luckily, the concussion did not stop me from buying books. I think November was one of the months I bought the most books and that's because there was a promotion. Nowadays, I try real hard to wait for those and it seems to be working. Hopefully, I can keep it up! It's fun though to have books to buy when there are promotions :)
All right, time to start working on December's post!
