Ring In 2011 Blog Hop

As most people are doing this New Year's Eve, I am thinking of the resolutions I want to make for the new year. I have many, some personal and some professional; some family oriented and some fun oriented. Needless to say, I know that there are many ways that I can become a better person for myself and for those around me. All I can do is try my best to meet my goals and work hard to have a happy and love-filled future. All those stopping by for this blog hop, I wish you a prosperous, safe and happy new year. Happy blogging in 2011.

Review for "Married by Morning" by Lisa Kleypas

They say that opposites attract. We have the easy-going, relaxed, devilishly handsome, witty, let-life-happen, devil-may-care, aristocrat Leo Hathaway, also known as Viscount Ramsay. And then there is Catherine Marks...the extremely proper and polite, rigid, eye-glass wearing governess to Leo's youngest sister. The two cannot stand each other, constantly bickering and teasing. Yet, Leo can't stop thinking about her...and it's not the usual teasing and provoking that are occupying his mind.

Catherine has lived through a sordid past, one she continues to hide from. Acting as governess to the youngest Hathaway siblings has allowed her to see what it is like to be a member of a family...a crazy one albeit, but one where you feel unconditionally loved and supported. Something Catherine knew would never be a reality for herself. And Leo.....well, he was everything she loathed....a gambler, immoral in his actions toward women and full of disrespect for his station in life. But God....he was handsome! Then came that kiss in the garden... that kiss Leo had been fantasizing about for so long..... and they both knew that their relationship would have to change. But would they both be able to handle this new path they were forging? Would Leo be able to love someone again after losing his first love and almost himself in the process? Would Marks, as Leo so lovingly calls her, be able to let go of her haunting past and give in to her desires and dreams?

Lisa Kleypas has managed to take Leo, a not-so-likable character in book one, MINE TILL MIDNIGHT, and turn him into a charming, deeply committed man with a devilish sense of humour and a touch of wickedness that will keep his lover forever happy.

"I have the most profane desire to be in bed with you for...oh, weeks, at least...committing every mortal sin known to man. I'd like to do more than sketch you naked. I want to draw directly on you with feather and ink...flowers around your breasts, trails of stars down your thighs." He let his warm lips brush the edge of her ear. "I want to map your body, chart the north, south, east, and west of you."

I really enjoyed this fourth installment in the Hathaways series. Having relished the witty banter between Leo and Marks in previous books just made be look forward to their own story. The sexual tension between these two could be cut with a knife. It is a hot and steamy romance, one filled with desire, longing, passion, erotic love scenes and heart touching admissions. Watching Leo reveal more of his true self to Marks, allowing her to see the genuine man inside touched my soul. Marks managed to withdraw the armour around his heart and allowed him to love again. And in return, Marks learned to trust a man, a man who gave her his body and soul. If you are a fan of Lisa Kleypas or historical romance, you need to run out and get this one. It is a heart-stopping tale that will keep you laughing, sighing and wishing for your own Leo Hathaway.

Review for "Tempt Me At Twilight" by Lisa Kleypas

We all know and are attracted (even if we don't admit it) to that villain of a man, the seemingly cold-hearted, manipulative hunk who, underneath the layers of bravado, just wants and needs to be held, to be wanted, to be loved. Harry Rutledge is such a man in the third installment of the Hathaways series, TEMPT ME AT TWILIGHT.

Harry is the reclusive, handsome, American born owner of the prestigious London hotel, The Rutledge. He is a self-made man and one of the richest in London as well as one of the most mysterious, hence his instantanious attractiveness to all women. He is notorious for his shrewd business sense, his manipulative nature and ruthless determination to get whatever he wants. And what he wants...... is Poppy Hathaway. Poppy is beautiful, intelligent, with a love for life that is engrossing. She wants a normal, predictable, peaceful life, which, of coarse, does not happen when your last name is Hathaway. Staying at the Rutledge Hotel during the season, Poppy believes she has found her true love in Michael Bayning, a young man secretly courting her, witholding a proposal due to his fears that his father will not approve of the match. But if a man truly loves a woman, nothing would stop him from having her. As Harry tells Poppy,

"You were courted by a boy, who had to do as he was told." His hot breath feathered against her lips as he whispered, "You should try it with a man, who needs no one's permission."

Nothing will stop Harry from getting what he wants, especially not a young buck like Michael Bayning. A little bit of manipulation and maneuvering, and Harry has Poppy where he wants her....in a very uncompromising position that could ruin her reputation forever. But what will happen when Poppy discovers that she is married to the villain, a man who manipulates people with his power and money.....a man who doesn't tell her the whole truth.

As the story progresses, Poppy comes to accept Harry for who he is, and in doing so, offers him the love he so desperately wanted and needed his whole life. Harry finally comes to realize and accept that he is deserving of love and that he is capable of loving. Little did he know that Poppy was the woman he was waiting for his whole life, the one who would make him laugh, intrigue him, beguile him, adore him....the one who would unleash in him a profound love that he could no longer contain.

“I have so much love for you, I could fill rooms with it. Buildings. You’re surrounded by it wherever you go, you walk through it, breathe it...it’s in your lungs, and under your tongue, and between your fingers and toes...” His mouth moved passionately over hers, urging her lips apart. It was a kiss to level mountains and shake stars from the sky. It was a kiss to make angels faint and demons weep...a passionate, demanding, soul-searing kiss that nearly knocked the earth off its axis. Or at least that was how Poppy felt about it.

This is another great Lisa Kleypas story. It has it all.... villainous hero, lovable heroine, hot and heavy love scenes, humourous dialogue, and charming secondary characters. I have loved this quirky Hathaway family from the beginning in MINE TILL MIDNIGHT. The author keeps us laughing with the return of the familiar, unconventional family members whom I have come to know and love so well. The author's revelations about Catherine and the obvious growing attraction between her and Leo is enough to make me run to the nearest book store. Thank god for the internet and ebooks.....with the push of a button, I am already engrossed in the next Hathaway love affair.

Review for "Romancing Mister Bridgerton" by Julia Quinn

Penelope Featherington, a self-admitted wallflower. Society sees her as a plump, plain Jane type of girl who is quiet and unpopular and worst of all, a spinster. Yet those very few who get to know her realize that there is more to Penelope...she is witty, charming, intelligent....and so desperately in love with her best friend's brother, Colin Bridgerton. Colin....extremely handsome, flirtatious, suave, witty, charming.....yet he feels that there is something missing in his life. Colin is searching.....searching for a purpose, a way to leave his mark upon the world. These two characters have known each other since childhood, but it is only now, in their later years, that they truly come to KNOW each other and themselves.

I loved the charming, witty Colin Bridgerton from the first time he was introduced in the Bridgerton series. I was very much looking forward to his story. I was even more intrigued once I discovered that he was to fall for his sister's best friend, the plain, plump, unpopular Penelope Featherington. I loved the genuine truth of their love. For Colin, it wasn't a "knock-me-down over the head" kind of love...not even a "she's so hot I gotta have her" kind of love. It was a "wow...she is great...why haven't I noticed that about her" kind of love. It was a bond that grew... a friendship that blossomed into a need for another person, a person he realized he could not live without. The love scene that Colin and Penelope finally share is just that.....a LOVE scene, not a hot and steamy sexually arousing interlude, but a scene that is so filled with deep, honest love for another that I couldn't help but reach out for my own love. Colin's admission of his feelings for Penelope just made me melt:

He murmured her name, tenderly taking her face in his hands. “I love you,” he said, his voice low and fervent. “I love you with everything I am, everything I’ve been, and everything I hope to be.”

“I love you with my past, and I love you for my future.” He bent forward and kissed her, once, softly, on the lips. “I love you for the children we’ll have and for the years we’ll have together. I love you for every one of my smiles, and even more, for every one of your smiles.”

Julia Quinn has managed to create characters that are truly relateable. We all have insecurities.... we all have questioned our purpose in life.....we all have longed for a person that we knew we could never have. I found myself smiling throughout this wonderful story, even laughing out loud at times. And of course, I too fell in love with Colin Bridgerton, insecurities and all.

Highlander Reading Challenge

I have never entered a reading challenge. Something about reading a set amount of books by a certain time makes me feel unnecessarily pressured. Well....along comes a Highlander and SUDDENLY I have no issues entering a reading challenge! Wow...the things a muscular, brawny man in a kilt can make you do!! This sounds like a fun challenge that I will have NO problems completing. Lori at Escape Between the Pages is hosting this challenge. Head on over to her blog to sign up. I can't wait to meet all of those hunky, claymore wielding Scotsmen with their seductive Scottish burrs!

Review for "Seduce Me At Sunrise" by Lisa Kleypas

Kev Merripen, a mysterious, handsome gypsy man who considers himself nothing but a brute. Winnifred Hathaway, a beautiful, well-bred women with a very determined spirit. Two people who seem to be so very different, yet two people who have shared an inescapable bond since they met as children.

Kev was raised to fight, fight till the death or be killed himself. He was treated like an animal and trained to fight like one. Left for dead, he was discovered and rescued by the Hathaways, who brought him into their home and treated him with a gentleness that was foreign to him.
From the moment Kev "felt" Win's presence, he has loved her. But he feels he is no good for her, beneath her, a man with nothing to offer a woman like her. Yet, he feels he has to protect her. He will never leave her. But Win knows better. She knows the gentle soul that resides within the heart of her mysterious and brooding Kev. She loves him....he comforts her.... and her nights are filled with a longing for this man she has known forever. She is determined to make Kev admit his love for her and succumb to the passion and yearning that he struggles so hard to control.

I really liked this 2nd book in Lisa Kleypas' 'Hathaways' series. The characters were memorable and I especially loved the hero, the ever-brooding Kev. He worked so hard at keeping his true self bottled up, keeping his desires under control and his feelings in check. Yet deep down, he was hiding words like these:

"I love you, he thought, looking at Win. I love every part of you, every thought and word...the entire complex, fascinating bundle of all the things you are. I want you with ten different kinds of need at once. I love all the seasons of you, the way you are now, the thought of how much more beautiful you'll be in the decades to come. I love you for being the answer to every question my heart could ask."(pg.252)

Lisa Kleypas teases her readers, throwing Kev and Win together and then pulling them apart. Their desire for one another was palpable and their love scenes were smoldering....well worth the wait. I also enjoyed the second story line about Kev and his brother Cam's journey to find their estranged gypsy family. What ensues is surprising and ironic. Those of you looking for a historical tale about the journey and power of love, pick up SEDUCE ME AT SUNRISE....your heart will not be disappointed.