1290. Just Like Heaven (Julia Quinn)

Synopsis:
Honoria Smythe-Smith is: A) a really bad violinist
B) still miffed at being nicknamed "Bug" as a child
C) not in love with her older brother's best friend
D) all of the above

Marcus Holroyd is: A) the Earl of Chatteris
B) regrettably prone to sprained ankles
C) not in love with his best friend's younger sister
D) all of the above

Together they: A) eat quite a bit of chocolate cake
B) survive a deadly fever and the world's worst musical performance
C) fall quite desperately in love

It's Julia Quinn at her best, so you know the answer is . . .

D) all of the above

My rating: 4 stars

My review: It's Julia Quinn. Of course, it's a rollicking good read.

1287. Bastian (Elizabeth Amber)

Synopsis:
The forum excavations in Rome go on, directed by the iron-willed, charismatic Lord Bastian Satyr. Out of nowhere, a mysterious, haunting voice calls out to him... and lures him to the site of a long-vanished temple, where vestal virgins once performed rites of erotic surrender. The temple is the find of his career, but his heart is about to face the unknown...Michaela is a pure Ephemeral. She can enter the bodies of others - and become any woman a man might wish to possess. His choice is her pleasure. And the commanding and utterly virile Bastian is the only man she desires ....

My rating: 4 stars

1285. Notorious (Nicola Cornick)

Synopsis:
When the ton's most notorious heartbreaker.

Dangerously seductive and sinfully beautiful, Susanna Burney is society's most sought after matchbreaker. Paid by wealthy parents to part unsuitable couples, she's never yet failed to accomplish her mission of diverting a groom-to-be. Until her final assignment brings her face-to-face with the man who'd once taught her an intimate lesson in heartache..

Meets London's most disreputable rake.

James Devlin has everything he's always wanted: a title, a rich fiancée and a place in society. But the woman who's just met his eyes across a crowded ballroom threatens it all. Not because she'd once claimed his heart, or that every sinuous swirl of her ball gown takes his breath away. But because the secrets she carries could cost him everything. To put the past to rest once and for all, Dev just might have to play Susanna at her own wicked game..

Let the seduction begin!


My rating: 4 stars

1284. The Man on the Balcony (Maj Sjowall, Per Wahloo)

Synopsis:
Someone is killing young girls in the once-peaceful parks of Stockholm -- killing them after having his way. The people of Stockholm are tense and fearful. Police Superintendent Martin Beck has two witnesses: a cold-blooded mugger who won't say much and a three-year-old boy who can't say much. The dedicated work of the police force seems to be leading nowhere, and with each passing day, the likelihood of another murder grows. But then Beck remembers someone -- or something -- he overheard.

My rating: 4 stars

1283. Confessions of an Improper Bride (Jennifer Haymore)

Synopsis:
Serena Donovan left London six years ago, her heart broken and her reputation ruined by devilishly handsome Jonathan Dane. Now, with her family's future in peril, she reluctantly agrees to return to England and assume her late twin's identity. The price? Marry a man she doesn't love and spend the rest of her days living a lie.

Jonathan Dane, Earl of Stratford, has become an incorrigible rake, drinking, gambling-and trying to forget Serena Donovan. Yet the moment he's introduced to the prim and proper "Meg", he recognizes the sensual young woman who captured his heart. Haunted by his past mistakes, he refuses to lose Serena again. But convincing her to trust him is no easy task. Claiming his lost love means exposing the truth and destroying the life Serena has sacrificed everything to rebuild. With the future of all the Donovans at stake, and their undying passion capable of triggering yet another scandal, how much will Jonathan and Serena risk for a chance at true love?

My rating: 4 stars

1278. Voyeur (Lacey Alexander)

Synopsis:

Suffering from writer's block and with no lover to speak of, novelist Laura Watkins is in a funk. She needs a getaway and a release. Fast. Fortunately, she finds both in the retreat of a friend's isolated Colorado home. It's hers and hers alone for as long as she needs it. Then she comes upon the webcam, and her curiosity is aroused. So is her secret fantasy-to be watched by a stranger.

His screen name is Flyboy. He likes what he sees. He wants to open up for her, too. Now, they're only one click away from exploring an after-hours game of exhibitionist and voyeur where anything goes. But now it's time to take it one step further-by meeting in the flesh. This time, no rules, no limits, and absolutely nothing to come between them.

My rating: 4 stars

1276. Moscow Rules (Daniel Silva)

Synopsis:

Now the death of a journalist leads Allon to Russia, where he finds that, in terms of spycraft, even he has something to learn. He's playing by Moscow rules now.

This is not the grim, gray Moscow of Soviet times but a new Moscow, awash in oil wealth and choked with bulletproof Bentleys. A Moscow where power resides once more behind the walls of the Kremlin and where critics of the ruling class are ruthlessly silenced. A Moscow where a new generation of Stalinists is plotting to reclaim an empire lost and to challenge the global dominance of its old enemy, the United States.

One such man is Ivan Kharkov, a former KGB colonel who built a global investment empire on the rubble of the Soviet Union. Hidden within that empire, however, is a more lucrative and deadly business: Kharkov is an arms dealer - and he is about to deliver Russia's most sophisticated weapons to al- Qaeda. Unless Allon can learn the time and place of the delivery, the world will see the deadliest terror attacks since 9/11 - and the clock is ticking fast.

My rating: 4 stars

1269. Cold As Ice (Anne Stuart)

Synopsis:
The job was supposed to be dead easy -- hand-deliver some legal papers to billionaire philanthropist Harry Van Dorn's extravagant yacht, get his signature and be done. But Manhattan lawyer Genevieve Spenser soon realizes she's in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that the publicly benevolent playboy has a sick, vicious side. As he tries to make her his plaything for the evening, eager to use and abuse her until he discards her with the rest of his victims, Genevieve must keep her wits if she intends to survive the night.

But there's someone else on the ship who knows the true depths of Van Dorn's evil. Peter Jensen is far more than the unassuming personal assistant he pretends to be -- he's a secret operative who will stop at nothing to ensure Harry's deadly Rule of Seven terror campaign dies with him. But Genevieve's presence has thrown a wrench into his plans, and now he must decide whether to risk his mission to keep her alive, or allow her to become collateral damage ....

My rating: 4 stars

1263. How to Dazzle a Duke (Claudia Dain)

Synopsis:
Miss Penelope Prestwick wants a duke for a husband, and clearly the dashing Duke of Edenham is the best choice. Just as Lady Dalby is clearly the best person to arrange the match. But how exactly should Penelope go about dazzling a duke? Surely a show of cleavage never hurt. Perhaps a kiss? And a bit of competition might do nicely. To that end, Penelope approaches the Marquis of Iveston requesting that he kindly appear interested in her so that the Duke will take note. When he does, the game begins as all of Society tries to determine who will actually marry Penelope.

My rating: 4 stars

1262. The Mediterranean Billionaire's Blackmail Bargain (Abby Green)

Synopsis:

When Alicia turns up at Dante D'Aquanni's Italian villa claiming he's responsible for her sister's pregnancy, he's furious. He knows her type - and he'll make her pay!

When it turns out Dante wasn't her sister's lover, Alicia has to make amends, and Dante wants more than a mere apology. He wants Alicia. She's whisked into his glamorous world. But despite the sizzling chemistry between them, Alicia knows she must leave - because she's falling for a man who despises her ....

My rating: 4 stars

1261. The Nine Tailors (Dorothy Sayers)

Synopsis:
When his sexton finds a corpse in the wrong grave, the rector of Fenchurch St Paul asks Lord Peter Wimsey to find out who the dead man was and how he came to be there. The lore of bell-ringing and a brilliantly-evoked village in the remote fens of East Anglia are the unforgettable background to a story of an old unsolved crime and its violent unravelling twenty years later.

My rating: 4 stars

1260. The Greek Tycoon's Disobedient Bride (Lynne Graham)

Synopsis:
It amazed Ophelia that Lysander Metaxis - a Greek billionaire notorious for his harem of adoring women - wanted to marry her, a humble gardener with a crumbling old manor house and debts up to her ears.

But soon she realized Lysander didn't want her - he wanted her property and her body. But marry him she would, because she had no choice if she wanted to keep what she cherished most. And disobedient she would be, because her new husband had no intention of loving her ....

My rating: 4 stars

1255. I'm In No Mood For Love (Rachel Gibson)

Synopsis:
What is Clare Wingate doing? One minute she's suffering in a pretty-in-pink gown she'll never wear again, and the next thing she knows it's morning . . . and she has the nastiest hangover of her life.

To make matters worse, she's wearing nothing but a spritz of Escada and lying next to Sebastian Vaughan . . . her girlhood crush turned sexy, globe-hopping journalist. Somewhere between the toast and the toss of the bouquet she'd gotten herself into a whole lot of trouble.

Clare had the right to go wild-;after all, she'd been knocked off her dyed-to-match shoes after finding her own fiancé in a compromising position with the washing machine repairman. Clearly her society wedding is off.

But Sebastian pushed all the wrong buttons-;and some of the right ones, too. Clare is in no mood for love-;not even for lust-;and wants to forget about Sebastian and his six-pack abs ASAP. But he isn't in the mood to go away, and his kiss is impossible to forget.

1252. Scot on the Rocks (Brenda Janowitz)

Synopsis:

When her ex-boyfriend, Trip, gets engaged to Hollywood's latest It Girl, Manhattan attorney Brooke Miller plans to attend the wedding. Who says a modern girl can't stay friends with her ex? Besides, Brooke's got her sexy Scottish fiance, Douglas, to take as her date. Okay, so maybe he's not exactly her fiance, but they're living together in his apartment, so she'll be getting the ring any minute, right? Wrong.

After a fight leaves her without a boyfriend (much less a fiance) just days before the wedding, Brooke faces the ultimate humiliation of attending her ex-boyfriend's nuptials alone. Desperate to find a replacement to fill Douglas's kilt, Brooke concocts an outrageous plan to survive the wedding and win the man of her dreams, all with her dignity ever-so-slightly intact.

My rating: 4 stars

1251. Nothing Denied (Jess Michaels)

Summary:
Entering her seventh unsuccessful season, Beatrice Albright is beginning to realize that her beauty cannot compensate for her shrewish ways. A desperate woman whom no one wants, she must seek a man whom no one else will marry: the despised and mysterious Marquis of Highcroft, Gareth Berenger. Rumor has it he is a killer, but Beatrice is far more terrified of spinsterhood-and the company of her mother-than she is of Berenger's dark reputation. But Gareth, while intrigued by the alluring hellion's proposal, has a proposition of his own. A man of particular tastes, he will wed no woman unwilling to satisfy them. His bride must be adventurous, afraid of nothing, and eager to experience any passion and pleasure he can devise, no matter how shocking and taboo. If Beatrice agrees to a trial affair-if she can happily shed all her inhibitions-in the end they will be wed. And so the die is cast-as Beatrice and Gareth embark on an erotic path where danger awaits them at every turn, en route to a world of exquisite ecstasy where there is nothing forbidden...nothing denied.

My rating: 4 stars

1249. Taboo (Jess Michaels)

Synopsis:
Cassandra Willows has made a name for herself as one of London's most sought-after seamstresses - and as the creator of intimate "toys" much beloved in the bed chambers of elite ladies and lords. But her success cannot soothe her guilt and pain over a most devastating betrayal.

Nathan Manning, Earl of Blackhearth, will never forgive the exquisite Cassandra for abandoning him without a word on the day they were to elope. Now he is back in London and hungry for revenge. Armed with scandalous, provocative memories, the handsome, vengeful nobleman blackmails his former lover into a most illicit affair...and reignites the raging fire that once consumed them both.

But by losing themselves in the throes of erotic ecstasy reborn, Nathan and Cassandra are courting gravest danger - vulnerable to a past that threatens to destroy their lives and passion still; at risk from dark, unspoken secrets that are shockingly, perilously...taboo.

My rating: 4 stars

1248. Carnal Deceptions (Scottie Barrett)

Synopsis:
Tess Starling is willing to risk everything and offer anything to avenge her fathers death. Upon leaving her fathers gravesite, Tess spies creditors confiscating the finery of her first London Season. But her gowns will do little to satisfy her fathers debts. Fleet Prison awaits her. Tess dons a homely disguise, cloaking herself in mourning weeds. She is determined to evade the authorities until she brings to justice the swindler who ruined her father. Resolute in her quest, she will transform anew, reinventing herself as a temptress to seduce the villain. She only wants for hands-on training, but the man who volunteers proves too much of a distraction. Everything about Tallon Hawkes, the Earl of Marcliffe, fascinates, including the battle scars marking his body. A motivated pupil, Tess yields eagerly to his sexual demands. Long before he discovers the sensuous female beneath the layers of black crepelong before he discovers the brilliant copper-colored tresses hidden by the ratty wiglong before he tastes the sweetness of her skin, Tallon Hawkes heart has been hooked. Tallon plays along with Tesss scheme, but he is distrustful and jealous of her obsession with their shared enemy. Tallon is determined to bring her dangerous game to an end. But will his arrogant maneuver lose him any chance with Tess?

My rating: 4 stars

1244. Delicious (Shayla Black)

Synopsis:
Luc's entire future is planned out-but there is one very sexy obstacle in his path: Alyssa, a strip club owner with whom Luc recently shared one night of wild abandon. It left Luc terrified by his loss of selfcontrol-and Alyssa desperate for more. But Luc is not the only man desperate to have Alyssa...and that's just one of her secrets-secrets as dark and mysterious and delicious as her fantasies.

My rating: 4 stars

1238. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Sarah MacLean)

Synopsis:

A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen's club.

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried - and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she's vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she's been missing.

But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss - to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston - charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.

If she's not careful, she'll break the most important rule of all - the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love ....

My rating: 4 stars

1236. Rogue In My Arms (Celeste Bradley)

Synopsis:

When Sir Colin Lambert learns that the little girl left on the steps of his gentleman's club belongs to one of its members, he's filled with hope. Could Melody be the daughter of the beautiful, impulsive actress who broke his heart? Colin is determined to find out with the help of his lost love's former seamstress, Miss Prudence Filby. But soon, Pru's disarming manner and seductive voice are stirring all manner of doubts in his mind - as well as some delicious fantasies.

Pru's only motivation in helping Colin is to reclaim the wages she's owed. Or at least, itwas, before days and nights traveling together draw them into a heated, thrilling intimacy. But as soon as Pru discovers his noble status, she suspects she's been a fool. To a man of his standing, she can hardly be more than a dalliance, even if their scorching passion makes her long to take center stage in his life - and in his arms.

My rating: 4 stars

My review: Rollicking good fun! I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.