Audio review: Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh

Format: Audible download
Release Date: 5/7/10
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Length: 10 hrs 32 min
Narration: Justine Eyre
FTC: Purchased myself

I've been steadily working my way through the shamefully long list of authors I haven't tried yet, but who have been recommended to me from multiple sources. At a blogger dinner I attended back in April, everyone was raving about Nalini Singh. Most of the praise centered around her Psy-Changeling series, but it was the Guild Hunter books that appealed, so I started there.

Review: Romancing the Countess by Ashley March

Format: mass market, ebook
Pub Date: September 6, 2011
Publisher: Signet
Length: 320 pages
FTC: Review copy provided by the publisher

I'm not normally a fan of books that deal, even indirectly, with infidelity. It's just not a favorite theme of mine. Romancing the Countess surprised me, though, by the way it takes two characters linked by that ultimate betrayal and fashions a new, happier story for them.

I think this is one of those books that people will love or hate. It's hard to assign a grade to, at least for me, because it is so very angsty. Sebastian, in particular, is wounded by the discovery that the wife he loved so deeply was having an affair and died while trying to leave him. He's angry as well (with good reason) and I felt for him.


The writing is excellent. So good, that I felt Sebastian was damaged. Too wounded for me to believe he would recover so quickly from it to fall in love again. Especially with someone who could daily remind him of that betrayal.  This was a deep, well  done story, but because I'm unsure of the HEA, I'm lowering the grade just a little.

My Grade: B+



The Blurb:

Sebastian Madinger, the Earl of Wriothesly, thought he'd married the perfect woman-until a fatal accident revealed her betrayal with his best friend. After their deaths, Sebastian is determined to avoid a scandal for the sake of his son. But his best friend's widow is just as determined to cast her mourning veil aside by hosting a party that will surely destroy both their reputations and expose all of his carefully kept secrets...

Leah George has carried the painful knowledge of her husband's affair for almost a year. All she wants now is to enjoy her independence and make a new life for herself-even if that means being ostracized by the Society whose rules she was raised to obey. Now that the rumors are flying, there's only one thing left for Sebastian to do: silence the scandal by enticing the improper widow into becoming a proper wife. But when it comes to matters of the heart, neither Sebastian nor Leah is prepared for the passion they discover in each other's arms....

Review: Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue by Stephanie Laurens

Format: Mass market pb
Pub Date: August 2011
Publisher: Avon
Length: 440 pages
FTC: Purchased myself

I am a hopeless Stephanie Laurens addict. Hope. Less. I own most of the original Bar Cynster in hardcover. A Secret Love is one of my all-time favorite books. But even I had to admit that the last series Stephanie Laurens put out was...not good. A few of the books in the Black Cobra Quartet were downright unreadable. At least for me. With this book, she's returning to her successful Cynster series and sounding more like her old self.

For the uninitiated, Stephanie Laurens has a very specific voice. Certain phrases crop up. And there are OMG-will-it-never-end? sex scenes. And horse metaphors. But the books are STILL addictive.

Tis the Season to be Sinful by Adrienne Basso

Format:Mass Market, ebook
Pub Date: October 1, 2011
Publisher: Kensington
Length: 343 pages
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the publisher

There's a lovely, old-fashioned feel to the prose in Tis the Season to be Sinful. It's one of the few books I've read recently that feels thoroughly steeped in the period. But, unfortunately, the conflict is all over the place, the characters somewhat shallow, and the holiday elements seem more engaging than the romance.

My problems with the book center mainly around the lack of focus to the story. It seems like it's just not sure which problem it wants to explore about our hero (our heroine seems marginalized throughout.) Do we explore the working class values of the American? His inability to join in with Christmas festivities? His absence from the new home he married to get for months on end? Or his strained non-relationship with his wife's children?  There are so many different mini-conflicts in this book that all are dealt with in an unsatisfying and superficial way.

While this book did its job, it's not something I'll be reading again. I loved the holiday elements, but for some reason, the romance was just...ok. Since I did manage to read it in only a couple of sittings, I'm giving it higher marks than it might sound like it deserves.


My Grade: C

The Blurb:

The Season For Surprises. . .
Juliet Wentworth knew what she was getting into: a marriage of convenience that will save her estate and protect her family long into the future. But she wasn't expecting to find the passion of a lifetime in her new husband's arms. After just one night, Juliet knows a marriage in name only will never be enough. . .
The Season For Seduction. . .
Richard Harper's beautiful new bride has him reeling with desire--and running for cover. After all, falling in love was never part of the bargain. Yet when Christmastime celebrations bring him back to their country manor and back into Juliet's arms, Richard finds his wife is determined--and all too able--to win over his heart, one kiss at a time. . .