Bedding The Wrong Brother

Bedding the Wrong Brother

by Virna DePaul
Rating: 4 of 5 stars


My Review:
After getting a free Kindle book by this author, I saw this one which looked much more interesting than the free one so I bought it at the same time. I really liked Melina and Rhys in this story. They have a shared history and the backstory is filled in early enough that we're not left guessing about why characters are reacting in certain ways.


They both had to learn to take risks and I appreciated that the author really let the characters sit with their discomfort and figure out if their loving the other person meant they were willing to give up something important to them. There was no easy, quick fix, but Melina and Rhys were each able to debate with themselves in a very natural way to determine what they were willing to compromise on.


I really believed in these two and by the end of the book, you know they're really meant to be together. I liked the solution they came up with to fulfill each of their needs. I would say at the end especially, this book told a little more than showed. A couple things were explained in passing between the two main characters that felt like "here, tie up these loose ends" instead of giving us the full effect by giving us the scenes with a few other characters when everything was hashed out and when we'd learn other people's motivations a bit more. I will definitely keep an eye out for Rhys' twin, Max's book.

Wild For Mr. Wrong

Wild for Mr. Wrong
by Virna DePaul
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
I found this book as a free ebook on Kindle, so I decided to check out this author. This story didn't do it for me, but I liked the writing style enough that I'm still reading more by this author.

The story is about two lawyers on opposite sides. They've worked on and off against each other for years. Bryn's been attracted to Daniel for a while but won't act on anything because of his profession. Daniel didn't even take notice of Bryn until he overhears her talking about how he's a player. Then the idea's been planted in his head, he can't believe he missed out beautiful she is, etc.

He asks her out, manipulates their mutual friend into arranging a date and still gets turned down by Bryn. Bad things happen and Bryn decides she really does care about Daniel. She goes to his house to comfort him, which turns into sex and then they decide they can work out their problems because they're meant to be together.

I felt there was a lot of telling instead of showing with this novel. Being only 83 pages, some of that is to be expected, but it felt like we didn't get to see any of Daniel and Bryn actually getting to know each other. From the time Bryn turns him down, there are a few pages afterwards of us being told that they occasionally talk in the halls and/or think about each other. Then tragedy strikes and now they know they can work things out - forgiving themselves and each other for their misconceptions and live happily ever after. I didn't feel invested in their relationship mostly because we don't actually see them having a relationship.

All Other Things

All Other Things
by Charlotte Stein
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
My intention had been to read a couple pages of this book just as a teaser before I went to bed. Instead I was up for the next 2+ hours because I just couldn't leave this story.

I would liken this book to one of those artsy photos with the haze around the edges. The middle of the picture is awesome, but you don't see much of anything outside the middle. You don't find out too much about the characters' motivations, their jobs, their personalities or even much of their looks outside the bounds of the scenario their involved in. But I don't mind. The growth of the characters is so well written and it's fun to live in fantasyland for a little while.

Bea is married to Tommy and loves him but is also attracted to Kieran. She wouldn't do anything about that but then she finds out that Tommy is uncomfortable having sex with her and fantasizes about Kieran being involved. Kieran helps both of them to overcome their shame and go after what they want. But what will happen to Kieran when he's gotten Tommy and Bea to open up?

This wasn't my favorite Charlotte Stein book but it was still awesome and I'm sure I'll read it again. 

Lover Undercover

Lover Undercover
by Samanthe Beck
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
I was sort-of so-so on this book. When I read the description, I thought it would be really interesting. But somehow it just felt like it dragged along. It was the first or second chapter when I said, "oh, that's the guy that did it". And they never even look into him until like the very end of the book.

Plus there was the whole "you just like me because I'm acting like my sister". I would have bought it if the guy actually knew the sister first and then didn't realize they switched. But the hero didn't meet the sister until the middle of the book. It just didn't fit that she's all upset he called her the wrong name but that's the name she gave him first. It had nothing to do with who she was or if he was confusing her with her sister - because he hadn't known the sister.

Bad Boy Next Door

Bad Boy Next Door
by Melissa Blue
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
This was a cute "how we met" sort of story. Penelope and Ryan are nice strong characters. You could definitely feel the attraction between them. It's a pretty short book. Maybe an hour and a half worth of reading time. So the characters meet twice over the span of about a week. After the first meeting, they try to stay away but their attraction is too strong and they give in to their own "happy for now". This would be a fun story to be able to tell grandkids about how you met and got together, minus the sex scenes of course.

Once Tempted

Once Tempted
by Laura Moore
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
I really liked this author's writing style. I was happy to keep reading and find out what happened next. Not quite a book that I'd stay up late reading. It took me a while to finish but I liked the story. I was a bit annoyed with the way everyone treated ex-girlfriend. It seemed like someone would have put her back in her place instead of everyone just quietly letting her have control of things when she felt like it. All of the major characters seemed so strong and yet they just stepped back whenever this girl said she wanted anything. The other odd thing to me was that there was no safe-sex talk in the book. No condoms, no pill, nothing. I kept waiting for it to become a plot device with a pregnancy or something, but there was nothing like that either. It just never came up at all.

Coming Home

Coming Home
by Leslie Kelly
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
I've liked a lot of Leslie Kelly books, so I picked this one up when I saw I saw a couple Leslie Kelly books on sale. Writing-wise, I liked the book. I like the way the words are put together.

The story line felt pretty forced though. Everything was based so much on the word choice of the characters. If they would have chosen one different word to say in any of the 10+ conversations they had, the conflict would have been totally different. I wanted to beat my head against a wall multiple times and say "why are you being so stubborn to use that word instead of any other word that would have made this whole issue disappear".

I was invested enough in the characters that I had to finish the book and I was happy they worked everything out, but the conflict was too contrived for me.

It Had To Be You

It Had To Be You
by Jill Shalvis
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
This was a cute, zany story. It was a little hard to get in to some of the zaniness because I never had a solid chunk of reading time. I felt like I'd always start up again right as there was some crazy situation happening that should totally have been funny but I had to remind myself what happened just before in order to get it and then it wasn't as funny anymore. I'm sure if I sat reading for a few hours, there would have been some good laughs, but in small chunks this book gave me some chuckles and some eye rolls.

I was mildly shocked by some of the sexist lines in the book though. You expect an alpha hero from Jill Shalvis, but there were some odd remarks like "…he should have remembered that angry women were never reasonable." I've expected lines like that from 80's romance novels but that stereotyping is disappointing to see today. I'm sure it was meant to be funny and maybe there were some negative stereotypes for men in the book too, but it took Luke as a character down a few pegs for me when I read something like that.

Ali and Luke are both strong characters who are used to helping everyone else and slogging through life however they need to in order to get what they want. They were a believable pair, in a zany sort of way. I wanted them to solve their problems and work their life out together.

This is a great beach read, or anytime really that you have a day to spend with some fun characters. If I had to compare this to something, I'd say it's most like a good Meg Ryan movie. You know it's going to end well, but it's comforting to see everyone get there together and leaves a smile on your face in the end.

Flirting With Disaster

Flirting with Disaster
by Ruthie Knox
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
I loved the content of this story. I liked the characters, I enjoyed the writing and I really liked that I didn't find any overused romance catchphrases. Sean and Katie were a cute couple and I enjoyed the twists and turns of how they found their happily-ever-after. I stayed up late two nights in a row to see what happened next in the story.

Sean knows who he is and is very confident of his skills, but can't deal with his feelings about his mom's death. He's stuck in his guilt and stuttering is his psychological regression to who he was when he lived with his mom.

Katie brings out this regression in him because he's had a crush on her since his teens. Sean refuses to talk to her because she's the only person around whom he can't control the stutter. Of course, the more he denies his feelings for her, the worse his stutter gets. I wish I could have heard Sean's voice.

Katie is intrigued by Sean, even though she doesn't want to be. She says he talks "…as if he had nothing better to do than tumble the sounds around on his tongue." It was hard to avoid just skipping over the stuttered words in the book. I kept forcing myself to slow down and and try to picture the way Sean would talk, but it was really hard for me - I didn't have a voice for him inside my head.

I liked who Sean was and I found it very intriguing how confident he was about everything except speaking to Katie. Katie had her own brand of internal confidence. I loved how everything was already inside her waiting to come out. She'd been discarded before and doubted who she was, but she was very authentic. Her subconscious knew who she was supposed to be and what she was supposed to do and it was fun to see her learn to follow her instincts and become more confident in who she was.

I'd say this one goes on the keeper shelf, but not the first book I'd reach for if I'm looking for mindless reading. Maybe next time I read it I'll have a good voice in my head, now that I know who the characters are, and I'll enjoy the book even more.

Along Came Trouble

Along Came Trouble
by Ruthie Knox
Rating: 3 of 5 stars


My Review:
I came in to this book with my fingers crossed that I'd really like it because I really like Ruthie Knox's writing. But I do have a bit of a prejudice towards celebrity-type romances. I just end up not understanding why people don't leave or just deal with the notoriety somehow.


I mean, Ellen has a famous brother and lives next door to her brother's possibly girlfriend. She's been around paparazzi stuff before. I liked that she was proactively dealing with her life, whether it was her ex-husband or nosy photographers. Was she smart about it? Maybe not. But if someone (Caleb) comes in and just starts trying to put up a fence or something, I'd be pretty pissed off too. It's her home and her choice of what she wants to do. If she didn't feel like dealing with it, she really should have left the area for a while or decided on some other course of action.


Caleb was a big, brawny, take-action sort of guy. He was hot and I could appreciate where he was coming from, but I hated how he kept trying to steamroll over Ellen. It's her life, not his. So her choice what should happen. I don't know how it works in the celebrity world, but in my world I wouldn't be ok with someone else being hired without my consent to do whatever they feel like, even if it's under the guise of protecting me.


Ellen and Caleb are pretty much at odds from the beginning of the book. Ellen wants her freedom. Caleb wants to do whatever is necessary to protect her. They can't find much common ground for quite a while, but there's lust.


I was really stuck with the characters' emotions while I was reading, but in this case that meant I was sort-of pissy to my family until I finished this book because I was upset for Ellen losing control of her life. It felt like everyone was against her having her independence and I hated that she wasn't finding a choice to make that kept her autonomy.


I did really like Ellen and I loved how she stood up for Caleb to his family. I liked the interactions between Caleb and his dad. By the end of the book, I liked Caleb too. I wasn't hugely invested in the story because I was annoyed with Caleb (and with Ellen for giving in), but I enjoyed the writing and I'll keep buying this author's books.

The Art of Duke Hunting

The Art of Duke Hunting
by Sophia Nash
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
I had a really hard time getting into this book. Partly because it's the second in the series and I hadn't read the first book yet. But the story itself just felt rather sad. There was witty dialogue and I like Ms. Nash's writing style, but most of the time Roman and Esme didn't seem all that happy.

Roman's afraid of boats. Esme's afraid of people drinking. Neither of them are happy when they're forced to marry. There are injuries and panicking too. Both characters grew and were able to overcome their problems. Esme gained self-confidence and Roman conquered his fears.

But they spent the whole book in angst and were only able to let go at the very end. It was a nice relaxing breath at the end of the book. Everyone was finally able to breathe out and let go, but that means the rest of the book was filled with tension for me.

All of the titles and names were confusing to keep straight. I tend to recognize characters mostly by the first letter in their name and there were lots of characters that I kept getting mixed up - because sometimes they'd be called by their title, sometimes their name and sometimes their title location or whatever you call that.

On that note, it was hard to figure out the motivations of the characters because I'd read a little bit and then have to go back and re-check which name I was reading about. Once I got to the end, it was a nice ending, but it took effort for me and the characters to get there.

Rub It In

Rub It In
by Kira Sinclair
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
Marcy and Simon rub each other the wrong way. Marcy runs Simon's resort, but is upset that Simon isn't involved enough. Marcy wants to get back to running a New York hotel after she had to leave her last job in New York over a questionable relationship.

When the yearly shut-down/vacation happens, Simon traps Marcy on the island resort so she'll have to handle the renovations happening instead of going to her job interview. She's mad, he's mad, they snipe at each other a bunch and she refuses to work. But when problems sneak up, they both team up to take care of the resort and they fall into bed together. She agrees to stay for the shut down but plans to leave afterwards.

They fall in love, but have some misunderstandings. She leaves, he grovels, happily ever after. It's a sweet story. The way Simon makes it up to her is very touching.

If you're looking for a good, quick category read, this would be a good choice, but if you get annoyed with some of the same overused phrases, be prepared that they pop up every now and then (my personal annoyance is "she met him thrust for thrust" or something similar).

Stink And The Freaky Frog Freakout

Stink and the Freaky Frog Freakout
by Megan McDonald
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

My Review:
My kids loved this book. There weren't a whole lot of pictures in this book, so I'd say for independent readers it's probably more for late second/early third grade. It was slightly more content than my seven year old wanted to read on his own, but both boys (7 and 4) sat for the whole story and talked about it for ages.

My kids don't have the fantasy/realism figured out yet, so they do really believe that Stink was turning into a frog. Actually, I take that back. They're convinced that Stink really did get the characteristics of a frog (just like Spiderman). This book convinced my older son that he should get better at swimming. And my younger son took away that if Stink can learn to dunk his head, then so can he.

I love that in each book Stink is able to overcome some issue or resolve some problem. Each one has convinced my kids that they can tackle something that has previously been scary. I'm sure this one will be read multiple times as each of my boys become more independent readers.

A Week To Be Wicked

A Week to be Wicked
by Tessa Dare
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Review:
Somehow this book just didn't keep my attention as well as most other Tessa Dare books. It took me a while to get around to reading it. This is book two in the series and I read books one and three ages ago, but I just never felt this one calling to me. With another book in the series being released, I figured it was time to plow through this one first.

Colin is an amusing hero with his own set of emotional angst to deal with. Minerva was a great, independent woman who goes after what she wants academically, but has a bunch of growing to do to develop her confidence.

I was a bit turned off by the start of the book with Colin having another woman in his bed. It left a bad taste in my mind for most of the book, but we are given decent reasons for why he is like that.

I think part of why the charm was missing from this book is that I've liked the town of Spindle Cove so much, but this book was very separate from the town. There was almost no interaction between the townspeople and the H/h because they were traveling for the whole book. It felt like even though it was the next story in line, it actually had almost nothing to do with the rest of the series.

I did really like seeing the lead up for Thorne and Kate's book. I think I'll have to go back and read that one again now that I've seen the beginning of them interacting. Overall, I'm glad I patched up the missing spot in the series and I love Ms. Dare's writing style but I probably won't read this book again.  

Age Of Consent

Age of Consent
by Victoria Gordon
Rating: 2 of 5 stars


My Review:
Another 80's Harlequin for me. This one wasn't quite as much of a soap opera. Some of the time, I wasn't sure what the point was. I couldn't really figure out where the tension was coming from. I mean, they probably could have had one conversation and decided it was fine for them to be together, end of story. Instead, the hero is very silent. Says nothing. Sometimes it seems like the only time he comes out of his office is to kiss the heroine, say that shouldn't have happened, and then disappear again. I was glad the heroine was working out stuff in her own life - taking charge of herself and figuring out what she wants. But I just didn't see much attraction between the two.