Saturday, July 19, 2008

1004. The Lost Duke of Wyndham (Julia Quinn)

Synopsis:
Jack Audley has been a highwayman.

A soldier. And he has always been a rogue. What he is not, and never wanted to be, is a peer of the realm, responsible for an ancient heritage and the livelihood of hundreds. But when he is recognized as the long-lost son of the House of Wyndham, his carefree life is over. And if his birth proves to be legitimate, then he will find himself with the one title he never wanted: Duke of Wyndham.

Grace Eversleigh has spent the last five years toiling as the companion to the dowager Duchess of Wyndham. It is a thankless job, with very little break from the routine ... until Jack Audley lands in her life, all rakish smiles and debonair charm. H
e is not a man who takes no for an answer, and when she is in his arms, she's not a woman who wants to say no. But if he is the true duke, then he is the one man she can never have ....

My rating: 2 stars

My review: Very disappointing. Boring and unoriginal.

1003. Let Sleeping Rogues Lie (Sabrina Jeffries)

Synopsis:
When Madeline Prescott took a teaching position at Mrs. Harris's School for Young Ladies, it was to help restore her father's reputation. Instead, she's in danger of ruining her own. The devilishly handsome Anthony Dalton, Viscount Norcourt, has agreed to provide "rake lessons" to Mrs. Harris's pupils so they can learn how to avoid unscrupulous gentlemen, and Madeline is to oversee his classes. She has always believed that attraction is a scientific matter, easily classified and controlled -- until she's swept into the passionate desire that fiercely burns between her and Anthony. Nothing could be more illogical than risking everything for a dalliance with a rake -- even one who's trying to behave himself. Yet nothing could be more tempting....

My rating: 3 stars

1002. Duke Most Wanted (Celeste Bradley)

Synopsis:
Sophie Blake’s grandfather willed his fortune to the first of his granddaughters to marry a duke. Since her cousin, Deirdre, will seal the deal any day now, the quiet, bookish Sophie can sit back and enjoy her time with the only man she truly adores: Graham. No matter that the part charmer, part scoundrel has absolutely no designs on her! Sophie is content to engage Graham in lively conversation, beat him at cards ... and probe at the darkness hiding behind his rakish smile.
Then Graham unexpectedly gains a title, an estate in near ruins and a mountain of debt. If there is any chance of survival he must find a rich wife—quickly. As his hunt for a bride begins, Sophie realizes that she isn’t even in the running. Suddenly no longer content to be a wallflower, Sophie gets a stunning make-over and becomes the belle of the ball. Lots of heads are turning…including Graham’s. But this beauty has secrets of her own. Will she be his salvation or seal his fate?

My rating: 4 stars

1001. Sizzling (Susan Mallery)

Synopsis:
A spiteful article about the former pitcher and current playboy questions his talent in the bedroom. And the newspaper's just the first bad news. Reid's grandmother Gloria's broken hip means she needs constant care--but Reid hired Nurses 1 and 2 for their bedside manner with him. So for Number 3 he chooses Lori Johnson, the first candidate who seems immune to his brand of charm.

Lori's never wasted her time with amoebas like Reid Buchanan. So why are her well-fortified defenses starting to crumble under the force of his sexy smile--and the kindness he shows her at every turn? There's only one explanation for the feelings flaring between them--chemistry. Chemistry so hot, it's sizzling!

My rating: 3 stars

Thursday, July 10, 2008

1000(!). The Duke Next Door (Celeste Bradley)

Synopsis:
The dangerously beautiful Deirdre Cantor is determined to inherit her grandfather’s vast fortune. All she needs is to marry a duke ... and be the first granddaughter to walk down the aisle. After all, she has always dreamed of becoming a member of the haute ton. So when the proper Calder Marbrook, the Marquis of Brookhaven and future Duke of Brookmoor, is abandoned at the altar, Deirdre makes it her business to become his wife—in spite of the whispers about his past. Soon Deirdre’s visions of a lavish existence with the handsome Calder are shattered when she learns his shocking secret. Feeling betrayed, Deirdre seeks revenge by playing a perilous and seductive game of cat and mouse with her husband that threatens to drive them both to the heights of passion. She will not surrender to him, no matter how great her desire. But at what cost? Calder is determined to keep his secret under lock and key—and to make his stunning wife his in every way that matters. Even if it means winning her heart all over again ....

My rating: 4 stars

999. Binding Krista (Jory Strong)

Synopsis:
For Adan d'Amato and Lyan d'Vesti, only a shared bond-mate will ensure the continuance of their race. The Council scientists have found a match in Krista Thomas a genetically compatible human. By Council rules Krista must be willing and the binding must be done immediately before she is brought back to their world, because once she accepts the bond, she will know that Adan and Lyan are not natives of Earth. For the warriors, it's a simple quest go to Earth, bind their mate to them, then return home. There's only one catch Krista is on the run and she's afraid to involve anyone else in her life.

My rating: 3 stars

998. Awaken, My Love (Robin Schone)

Synopsis:
Stuck in a marriage that lacks passion, thirty-nine year old Elaine Metcliffe wakes up one morning in a different country, a different time and a different body. At first, she assumes she must be dreaming, but when she awakens the next morning in the same place, she realizes something terrible has happened. She is in the body of Morrigan, wife of Charles Mortimer, Lord Arlcotte. Elaine is afraid to speak and give away her true identity, but after being bullied by both an abusive maid and her own husband, Elaine fights back. Where is she? And what has happened to her own body in the twentieth century? Elaine can only wonder why the pious young Morrigan remained a virgin through her first year of marriage to Charles. She desperately needs time alone to find a way back to her own body, but Charles is determined to awaken the passion in his young bride. For Charles, the change in Morrigan is nothing less than a miracle. Convinced he is married to a cold and frigid woman, he is delighted when Morrigan responds to his amorous advances. He dreams of exploring the limits of sensuality with her-- and is not going to let her revert back to her old ways! As he slowly seduces his own wife, Charles begins to forget the torment she has put him through. Perhaps they will finally be man and wife in every sense. Here in the nineteenth century, Elaine finds her own passion being awakened in a way she has only fantasized about in her old life. It may be the Victorian age, but Charles has studied the ways of the Tantric traditions and shows her that true happiness is in the complete fulfillment of all her earthly desires. She is falling in love with him-- in both heart and body. But when the real Morrigan pops up again in a different body and threatens to expose her as a mad woman, Elaine fears for the happiness-- and sensual pleasure-- she is only just beginning to discover with Charles.

My rating: 4 stars

Saturday, June 28, 2008

997. Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren)

Synopsis:
Pippi is an irrepressible, irreverent, and irrefutably delightful girl who lives alone (with a monkey) in her wacky house, Villa Villekulla. When she's not dancing with the burglars who were just trying to rob her house, she's attempting to learn the "pluttification" tables at school; fighting Adolf, the strongest man in the world at the circus; or playing tag with police officers. Pippi's high-spirited, good-natured hijinks cause as much trouble as fun, but a more generous child you won't find anywhere.

My rating: 4 stars

996. The Secret of the Old Clock (Carolyn Keene)

Synopsis:
After aiding an injured child, Nancy accidentally stumbles upon the mystery of Josiah Crowley's missing will. While several of Crowley's impoverished relatives claim that he had included them in his will, his arrogant relatives, seem to possess the only copy, which leaves them in total possession of the deceased man's fortune. Nancy is intrigued by the situation and begins searching for Crowley's missing antique clock, an object that reportedly contains a clue to the will's location. During her investigation, she encounters a series of obstacles, one of which is the theft of the clock by thieves. Nancy's rescue of the clock ultimately leads to her discovery of the real will.

My rating: 4 stars

995. Riley in the Morning (Sandra Brown)

Synopsis:
This romance tells the story of the passion, marriage, and breakup of Jon Riley, a popular morning TV show host in San Francisco, and Brin Cassidy, his producer and wife. Throughout the back and forth of present and past, there is the usual romance device of the secret that will only be revealed at the end.

My rating: 1 star

994. Seduced by Darkness (Jaide Fox)

Synopsis:
Bewitched by a sorcerer's vicious spell, her lands stolen, Swan is forced to flee to Shadowmere for help--and her only salvation. What she encounters instead is a danger she'd never imagined possible. Raphael, Lord of the Hunters, took her at the borderlands--mysterious, tempting ... and perilous to her very soul. For to give in to his dark seduction would be to consummate her curse ... and leave her forever the swan maiden ... and his prey.

My rating: 3 stars

993. The Wood Nymph (Mary Balogh)

Synopsis:
Heartbroken at the loss of Elizabeth in A Chance Encounter, William Mainwaring retreats to his country estate and meets the unworldly Helen Wade in the woods one day. She soothes his soul until he flees in panic after seducing her. He then faces the almost impossible task of redeeming himself in her eyes.

My rating: 2 stars

992. Bedford Square (Anne Perry)

Bedford Square

Synopsis:
A famous historical scandal called the Tranby Croft affair (a gambling case involving the Prince of Wales) is very much in the news when the body of a working-class man is found early one morning on the posh doorstep of General Brandon Balantyne. No one in the house claims to know the murdered man, but he has a valuable piece of jewelry belonging to the Balantynes in his pocket. Thomas Pitt and his outspoken aide, Sergeant Tellman, must tread lightly, but Charlotte--and especially her sharp relative Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould--aren't restrained by such social niceties. Gracie, the Pitts' smart and rough-tongued maid, is also a valued asset to the investigation, which proceeds in a satisfying, if not particularly surprising, manner to a highly dramatic conclusion.

My rating: 3 stars

991. Surrender (Kimberly Zant)

Synopsis:
If anyone had asked Anna before what she would be willing to do for money, what she'd just signed up for would NOT have been on the list. She's discovered, though, that the needy can't afford to be too picky. And, after all, what's six weeks in the scheme of things? Despite her internal pep talk, though, she discovers she isn't at all prepared for what she has to face in the mansion of ill repute-where 'no' is no longer a part of her vocabulary unless she wants to forfeit the money she needs so badly.

My rating: 4 stars

Sunday, June 22, 2008

990. The Last Camel Died at Noon (Elizabeth Peters)

Synopsis:
This time Amelia, her handsome, fearless husband, Radcliffe, and their precocious 11-year-old son, Ramses, are in the Sudan, searching for archeologist Willoughby Forth, who disappeared 14 years earlier with his new wife. Rescued in the desert after every camel in their caravan dies, the Emersons are taken to a lost city where ancient Egyptian customs have been carried into modern times. There, entangled in two half-brothers' battle for the throne, Amelia and family fight for the freedom of the slave class while ferreting out the fate of Forth and his bride, and arranging to escape with their lives.

My rating: 2 stars

989. Duplicity (Nikki Soarde)

Synopsis:
Lee Saunders and Carter McCrea are friends. They work together. They discuss books and movies, their lives and their dreams. There's no detail too personal, no subject too taboo-except one. How they feel about each other. Lee loves him, has loved him almost since the first moment she laid eyes on him, but Carter is taken. He's been with the same woman for years and, with wedding bells tinkling in the distance, Lee has resigned herself to a fate of platonic friendship and lively fantasies. And then everything changes. Carter's girlfriend unexpectedly breaks it off and, devastated, Carter looks to Lee for comfort. Finally Lee's fantasies are fulfilled-in myriad ways she never dreamed-but her world is still far from perfect. Despite the break-up, Carter's ex isn't through with him. She has another agenda where Carter is concerned and works diligently to see it through to completion. Lee fights to hang on to what is hers, but encounters some surprising obstacles along the way and realizes that no one in her life is exactly what they appear to be. Not even the man she loves.

My rating: 3 stars

988. The Bridges of Madison County (Robert James Waller)

Synopsis:
When Robert Kincaid drives through the heat and dust of an Iowa summer and turns into Francesca Johnson's farm lane looking for directions, the world-class photographer and the Iowa farm wife are joined in an experience of uncommon truth and stunning beauty that will haunt them forever.

My rating: 1 star

987. Stranger In My Bed (Julia Keaton)

Synopsis:
Facing spinsterhood and with no prospects of a husband in sight, Melantha yields to her needs and dreams about a secret lover who comes to her at night and gives her passion. It was innocent enough until her desires to 'live' the fantasy lured her into recording her secret fantasies in her diary . And until the thief stole into her room and took her diary ... and then her innocence. And then her heart....

My rating: 3 stars