Book Review: "Because of Miss Bridgerton (Rokesbys #1)" by Julia Quinn

***** - The Bridgertons and the Rokesbys have lived on neighbouring estates for centuries. Their children, through proximity, have grown up together. Billie Bridgerton has always been best friends with Edward, Andrew and Mary Rokesby and assumed she'd marry one of the boys when the time came.

Billie is unlike any other English miss. She wears breeches around the estate, handles her father's management affairs, climbs trees and throws herself at any task with abandon. The eldest Rokesby, George, has always found Billie to be intolerable, and they have enjoyed a long history of sniping and baiting one another.

When Billie inconveniently finds herself in need of rescue one afternoon, she is dismayed when it's George who happens upon her and must provide aid. But so begins their story as they discover that there's more to each than meets the eye.

I adored both of the main characters in this book. Billie is an excellent heroine, strong but soft in places, very relatable. I was surprised that I liked George as much as I did, I tend to find in regency romances the hero of the story is very two dimensional. But his passion, propriety and morality were in perfect combination, and he was charmingly realistic.

This book has passion, it feels romantic, and the whole story is made sweeter by the fact that these two have a history. This isn't some spur of the moment fascination with one another. They know the other's faults before their love story even begins. Finding this sort of foundation in a regency romance is rare, and this story almost feels like it could have unfolded in any era.

I loved it, so 5 stars it is.

Book Review: "Bend: Vegas Heat Book 1" by Molly McLain

*** - Sergeant Trent Clark can be a real asshole, and loves to give his Captain's daughter, Kinsey, a hard time. When Kinsey requests help from the local police and Trent shows up, she is tempted to handle things on her own. But she is even more tempted by Trent - his body is every bit as good as his attitude is bad.

This is a really quick read, and while the story is engaging, it goes too quickly to really be memorable. There is no real character development; Trent's issues seem to be solved through the power of love alone, which feels like a cop-out. These characters have great appeal and could have been great with a more fleshed-out plot.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for this review.

Book Review: "The Captain's Bluestocking Mistress" by Erica Ridley

*** - Jane is smart, well-read and heading towards spinsterhood, which makes her an interesting and new kind of heroine in this regency romance. She places Xavier on a pedestal and he is just the right mixture of tortured and honorable, the perfect romantic hero.

Jane decides to seduce Xavier and he predictably resists. There isn't much else to this novel until the inevitable happily-ever-after. Cute, a quick read, and I imagine fans of the series will enjoy this one.

I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for this review.

Book Review: "What You Do To Me" by Barbara Longley

*** - Handyman Sam doesn't do serious relationships. After he foolishly outs himself as the local lothario, Heroine Haley's meddling mother hires Sam to fix up her house and get her out of her post-breakup funk. The set-up and beginning of this story are great. Haley is a really likable character and Sam is very endearing. They have great chemistry when they deny their attraction towards each other and try to operate as business as usual.

Unfortunately the book gets a little bit hard to read when Sam and Haley actually hook up and "the drama" is introduced to the story. The outcome is inevitable and anticlimactic. I eagerly read through the start of this book but I wasn't in a hurry to finish.

Perfectly cute romance novel, well-written and great characterization. I just don't think it has anything new to offer. If the premise interests you, it's worth a read.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Book Review: "Snowed In" by Jenna Bayley-Burke

***** - This book is Hot. I was so excited to receive a free copy of this via Netgalley. I loved Compromising Positions by Jenna Bayley-Burke and so I jumped at the chance to read this book. I wasn't disappointed.

Marissa is the Maid of Honour at her best friend's wedding, and had agreed to share her room with a friend as a favour. When that so-called "friend" locks her out of her hotel room so that she can enjoy a hook-up with an old flame, Marissa decides to keep the peace and not call hotel security. Her one-time friend from school, Scott, has a cabin nearby and offers her use of his guest room.

Scott has been in love with Marissa from the moment he first saw her, but she had always been with his friend and team-mate, so he never had a shot with her. Now she's single, but only due to the fact that his friend had been cheating on her for years and dumped her at the altar. The betrayal Marissa felt was only made worse by the fact that Scott, who she'd counted as a friend, never told her the truth about her ex.

The two end up back at Scott's cabin, alone, and right at the beginning of a storm. Isolated for the night, they start to put their friendship back together, and as one night becomes several, it is impossible to deny their chemistry. But Scott has waited for years for this chance and refuses to let Marissa slip through his fingers, while Marissa refuses to dedicate her whole life to a man all over again.

Marissa and Scott have seriously hot chemistry, their flirty banter is delightful, and their history makes the story really interesting. I had so much fun reading this book, definitely makes my favourites list! I can even see myself reading it again.

Book Review: "Fat Fridays" by Judith Keim

* - I thought this would be like a cute, inspiring chick-lit filled cupcake with frosting. Instead, it was kind of like a half-baked fruit cake. When I have nothing nice to say I try not to say too much, so here goes.

On the box, this is the story of five women who meet together for calorie dense lunches and form solid friendships while supporting each other through various hardships. In this case, this means five disconnected stories with no solid conclusions and no great love or detail given to any of them.

Each woman gets her own chapter to start, so it takes five or so chapters for the story to even begin. This was a really hard slog and - I'm not going to lie - it took me a few days to even get through it. None of the women seemed relatable and none of them really had a hook that made me want to keep reading.

The main character is Sukie, recently divorced and with two adult children, she is sick of being the subject of town gossip and joins the Fat Fridays lunch group as there seems to be nothing else on her social calendar. Sukie is your typical house wife. Can't believe her husband cheated on her, overly concerned with her children's lives, loves to cook and is eagerly awaiting the birth of her first grandchild. She meets a younger man, and thus ensues the most unconvincing romance I have ever read. Her love interest may as well be a wet sheet of corrugated cardboard with a nice smile. Sukie spends most of the book in denial that he could be attracted to her, and while she eventually accepts that he is, I couldn't quite make that leap with her.

The other women don't fare much better. Tiffany is stuck in a suffocating marriage which includes her in-laws; Betsy has found an unconventional love that her family struggle to accept; Carol Anne is an air-head who needs a boot up the backside and thinks an attractive, wealthy man is all she needs to be happy. Lynn's story should have had a book to itself and is the catalyst for the climax of the story, but she barely gets a handful of pages devoted to her.

I was expecting strong female characters and got a box of tissues. Most of these women could have solved all of their problems by telling people to shove off and mind their own business. What's worse, the book ends with the stories only half concluded, and the fate of background characters is unknown. There is a sequel, which I only discovered when I jumped online to review the book, and probably should have been mentioned somewhere in the book.

The book is technically well written, although there is one scene which gave me some major deja-vu - it is nearly a carbon copy of an earlier scene, and I suspect one of them was supposed to have been edited out.

The cupcakes on the cover look appealing, but this book isn't. Thanks to netgalley for the free copy in exchange for my review - wish I could have said something sweeter.

Book Review: "Never Too Late (Appleby #1)" by Alyssia Leon

*** - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Molly lives with her beloved Nan in a small country village called Appleby. Her Nan runs the household for a beautiful estate home, though the owner is often absent. After an unresolved break-up, Molly is waiting for her boyfriend to return when she is blindsided by the introduction of his beautiful new fiancee.

Jake, billionaire and Handsome Man, makes his fortune in real estate. He visits Appleby to see the estate and modernise the property. Molly and Jake have an instant physical attraction, and in an effort to get Molly into his bed, Jake lets Molly take the lead on the house renovation so that she can retain the charm of the house she loves and grew up caring for.

The story is well-developed and Alyssia Leon writes excellent supporting characters. The small-minded gossips of Appleby spend very little time on the pages but come to life spectacularly. I was also sold on the instant attraction between Molly and Jake. Unfortunately, I didn't find their transition from lust to love to be very convincing, and the sex scenes read more like a race announcement than erotic fiction.

Despite the excellent supporting cast, I had a couple of issues with the hero and heroine. Molly has no backbone at all, and despite us being told that she'd finally found one, it really didn't seem that way. She let every single mean and nasty person walk all over her, never setting the record straight and often back-flipping on her own resolve. It was incredibly frustrating to read. Jake intially seemed like more than your stereotypical leading man, with a secret in his past that I was eager to discover. When I did, it just didn't seem to deliver the emotional depth that I was hoping for. The time frame from heartbreak to new love was totally unbelievable, and that is where the book ultimately lost me.

As far as romances go, Never Too Late delivers in all of the appropriate areas and is a good read. For me, it was acceptable but not spectacular. I will still keep an eye on the series, I am intrigued enough about the other characters that I'd like to read their stories too.

Book Review: "Cowboy Christmas Homecoming" by Mary Connealy, Ruth Logan Herne, Julie Lessman and Anna Schmidt

** - I was given a free copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for this review, so I wish I could say something nicer.

From a technical point of view, this book contains 4 well written novellas. From a story and character perspective... I struggled to finish.

One thing which was not clear to me before I started this book is that it is very much about the wholesome Christian sort of love. As an atheist and a romance enthusiast, this is really not my cup of tea. I might have tolerated it better or avoided it if this was obvious from the description or title of the book, but as it wasn't I was left with an incredibly bad taste in my mouth.

I don't like to dwell too much on the negative so I will simply say this: there is no passion in these romances. The love is pure and practical. The last story in particular, Connie’s Christmas Prayer by Anna Schmidt, involves a young girl reexamining the worth of her own goals and even her own name, to please the hero of the story.

This book was not for me. I am sure there is a market for wholesome, pure, religious courtships, but it should probably say so on the box, as it is a pretty significant deviation from the norm in this genre.

Book Review: "An Earl's Guide To Catch A Lady" by Tanya Wilde

* - Sorry in advance. This book is abhorrent. I didn't even want to finish it but I was committed to giving it this review.

The heroine, Evelyn, is your typical pretty English lady caught up in convoluted circumstances that she makes worse. I couldn't relate with a single one of her decisions. She is keenly aware of her position in society and is determined not to marry; she wants her freedom and loathes the idea of being owned by a husband. Knowing this, she still goes about putting herself in positions where she knows she may be forced into a marriage she doesn't want.

Our hero isn't even a Hero. Matthew is a reclusive, handsome, headstrong Earl, who decides he wants Evelyn and relentlessly stalks and pursues her throughout the countryside and the city. No matter how many times she refuses him, he attempts to strong-arm her into doing what he wants, and throughout the story is bewildered that she won't fall in line. He shows up at her home, corners her in public, man-handles her and does the classic kisses-her-to-shut-her-up move.

Spoiler alert - despite all of this, Evelyn never once appeals to anyone for help. Despite his relationship with the Earl, her brother would certainly have intervened if she had told him the full extent of his pursuit. And somehow, despite still not really "getting it", Evelyn still falls for Matthew hook, line and sinker. I am creating a new tag for this kind of book: "Stockholm Romance."

I hated the Hero, I hated the story, Evelyn's friends were shallow and unnecessary. And the book just goes on and on forever. The events seem so unlikely for a regency romance that it is probably better categorised as fantasy. Unless you like the idea of being manipulated and steam-rolled by every authority figure in your life, I can't recommend this one at all.

Book Review: "Compromising Positions" by Jenna Bayley-Burke

**** - I devoured this book on a Sunday and I loved every second. Our h&H, Sophie and David, are thrust into each other's lives when they agree to teach a couples yoga class, focusing on complicated sex positions and touching. Sophie has had a crush on David for years, but he has been mostly unaware of her. He has a type, and a strict set of dating rules to keep things uncomplicated. Sophie proceeds to break every rule on his list.

Both leads have enough back story to make them interesting, and some seriously hot chemistry makes this a very fun read. I genuinely enjoyed the way their story unfolds, navigating their feelings and figuring out how to fit their lives together when they want completely different things.

My copy had some annoying formatting issues which is a real pet hate of mine, and you encounter it a lot in this genre. Fortunately, the story is engrossing enough that I could overlook it. This may have been due to the format, as I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for my review. 

Now to find more books by this author to add to my queue...

Book Review: "The Rogue's Wager" by Christi Caldwell

**** - Christi Caldwell's stories make up well over half of my personal recency romance collection. They are reliably good fun, with leads who have great chemistry. They are the perfect books to pick up when you need to switch off and just enjoy a romantic story.

Even though I anticipated a good read, I was pleasantly surprised with The Rogue’s Wager. The heroine, Helena, is not the perfect society miss. She has had a hard life on London's streets and is more familiar with the city's underbelly than the ton, in her role as bookkeeper for the Help and Sin Club. She is tough, knows how to defend herself, and wants her independence in an era when women have none.

The hero, Lord Robert Dennington, knows personally that all women want from him is his title. As such, he has no interest in settling down until he is good and ready to give up his roguish lifestyle and settle into a safe, political and mutually beneficial marriage. When he stumbles into Helena’s bedroom one night, he turns her world upside down and leaves, oblivious to the tumult left in his wake.

This is not your typical recency romance. Somehow, the characters are more compelling. The Marquess still has his trademark “unfashionably long” hair, and Helena is still a “spirited minx” who catches the imagination of her beloved. But the story is partially set in the intriguing dark side of London, there is less dazzling society and more of the grit of the streets, and it rings truer for it. The story has a bit of a Pride and Prejudice vibe as the leads find their long held beliefs challenged, and Caldwell shows off some brilliant writing, especially with her scene setting.

Netgalley provided an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, and I am thrilled that they did because I would definitely have bought this one for myself. I recommend this one for recency lovers - you can purchase it from the 25th of October.

Book Review: "Cake: A Love Story" by J Bengtsson

*** - Jake McKallister is a hot, young, famous rockstar with a horrific past. He is secretive, guarded, and Casey Caldwell thinks he's out of her league. So when a mutual connection sees them partnered together at a social event, everyone is taken by surprise when they find they have an unmistakable attraction.

Cake has a great premise. Jake's background adds an interesting twist to the "different worlds" trope, and Casey is a truly great heroine. She has a backbone, is strong-willed, determined and funny. She's also gentle and intuitive. The overall plot is entertaining enough and the romance is pleasant enough to read about.

The book comes apart for me in three places. The first is that the book is told from dual perspectives. Jake necessarily withdraws into himself, which leaves Casey in the dark as to his feelings and motivations. Entering his perspective offers an insight into his mind, but the two experiences don't match up. Jake's chapters show that he is smitten and determined to try and make things work. Casey's paint him as withdrawn and difficult enough to read that she doubts their relationship. The two depictions of Jake just don't ever seem to mesh.

My second issue with this book is the dialogue. It is often forced and unrealistic, as if the characters are reading from a script. There is often too much exposition and the flow of the story really suffers for it. This is an example of a book that could benefit from more show and less tell.

Perhaps the most rage-inducing issue that I took with Cake is the direction that Casey takes in the end of the book. She begins as a funny, independent, likable woman. She remains so throughout the story. But in the end, appears to be willing to change her life goals to suit Jake. While this is convenient in the context of the story, it seems such a waste to develop such a great character only to have her life's goals seemingly fulfilled in a man and not her own accomplishments.

Overall, Cake is a perfectly adequate romance that, with some tweaks, could have been better.

Book Review: "How to Date a Douchebag: The Studying Hours (How to Date a Douchebag #1)" by Sara Ney

***** - I won't beat around the bush here - I read a lot of romance novels. It started out as a bit of light reading in between fantasy epics, but they're now the bread and butter of my day. Romances tend to follow a formula, and when it's done well that is fine and dandy. Most of the time, the author does an adequate job and I am entertained. Occasionally, I struggle to want to read the book. This time, I loved it.

Our leading lady, Jameson "James" Clark, is a dedicated student but not your typical brainy heroine. She just wants to study and isn't charmed by the typical douchebag types we all know and loathe. Unfortunately, Sebastian "Oz" Osborne definitely fits that category, and he finds himself fascinated by the one woman he's ever encountered who hasn't thrown herself at his feet.

This sounds like the sort of eye-rolling cliche that we've all read a hundred thousand times, but these characters have some serious chemistry. They are also just interesting enough to not feel like the standard papier mâché leads we so often see. James and Oz are genuinely likable, well-developed characters - neither are sitting around waiting for a romance novel to come and move their lives along for them, but boy am I glad that it did.

Cute, fun, and surprisingly good - this is a gem and I am so glad that it's the start of a series.

Book Review: "Like A Queen" by Constance Hall

**** - I gave birth to my first child in March this year. On the whole I thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant and am genuinely looking forward to my next go at it (mad, I know.) I spent the months planning her arrival, reading everything I could, trawling through online support groups and trying to figure out my parenting style, while reminding myself to remain flexible. What I didn't enjoy during this time was my husband. While everyone around me was happy and excited, my husband was not really interested in my pregnancy and had no interest in learning about babies. He didn't want to pick up a single book and got squeamish with the details.

Now that bub is here, my husband works and I stay home with Little One, doing the majority of care-giving and the housework, whether husband is home or not. He works 40 hours a week, and I work 168 hours a week, on-call. At some point, I began to ask myself if it was normal for mothers to want to drop-kick their husbands the second they walk in the front door, or to fantasize about packing up and leaving him behind while me and the baby ride off into the sunset. My friends in my Mothers Group all advised that the same thing was happening in their homes and they felt the exact same way.

None of the baby books I had read mentioned this phenomenon. Why did nobody warn the mothers-to-be of the incredible strain that parenthood can put on your bond with your partner? While I am at it, there are several things that the books don't cover. The pressure of social media on parenting; the fact that you constantly vaguely smell of baby vomit; that emotion that you feel when it is 3am and the baby is still crying and you are overwhelmed with both love and a desperate rage. Shouldn't there be somebody out there warning us all? Perhaps a guardian angel who can pop in with a quick disclaimer before D-Day? Or at the very least, making us feel like we aren't so strange for being so not the perfect, benevolent mother and partner that we thought we'd be.

Constance Hall is that guardian angel. Her Facebook page is a hub for women to share their frustrations, to laugh at themselves and their experiences, and feel connected to other mothers (or, as she refers to us, Queens.) She shares her personal experiences of life with her husband and 4 children and has created a safe online space for lost women to find their proverbial crowns and see themselves as the brilliant creatures that they are. And the best part: she has written an entire book to help guide us through this beautiful and difficult time; from staring daggers at your husband while he sleeps and you rock a baby who you're pretty sure hates you, to finding your inner royalty and realising that there's no such thing as perfect (but whatever you're doing is close.)

Like A Queen is part memoir, part musing. It is not a how-to guide or a trouble-shooting manual for parenthood. It is a collection of stories and anecdotes that combine to give you a sense of who Constance Hall is as a person, the journey that she has been on to become her Queenly self, and an insight into how she views other women. She hides nothing about her faults and failures, writing with a brutal honesty which is endearing and reassuring. Through her words, she feels like a trusted and valued friend. The reader can empathise with her stories and observations, and in a world where we often feel so very judged, the experience is truly cathartic.

This book is a labour of love and in reading it, you enter the wonderful world of Constance Hall, where all women are Queens and can laugh, love and empathise with one another. It is a fast and easy read, light-hearted enough that the depth won't drag you down. I highly recommend this book for any Queen (expectant mothers, new mothers, mothers who have lost their crowns, mothers who are rocking it but want to join the growing fold) and have already offered to lend it out to my Mothers Group.

If you would like to buy a copy for yourself or gift it to a Queen in your life, you can pre-order at http://likeaqueen.com.au/ (shipping only to Australia & NZ only at this stage).

The Bookshelf - Best & Worst

I read a lot more than I review!

I loved:

1.  "Pride and Prejudice" - Jane Austen
   Literary Romance. This is a classic and really doesn't need to be listed, but it is the benchmark for romance and so it has a place of honour here.
2. The Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks
   Fantasy. Richly drawn world, complex characters, moral dilemmas. Absolutely outstanding.
3. "Outlander" - Diana Gabaldon
   Literary Romance. I was late to the table with this series but place it here to recommend to anybody who hasn't discovered it yet. Vividly written, utterly compelling.
4. "The God of Small Things" - Arundhati Roy
   Fiction. This book will break your heart. Painful, haunting, lush and beautiful. Read it because it deserves to be read; don't read it because it shakes you, changes you.
5. "French Children Don't Throw Food" - Pamela Druckerman 
   Parenting.This book affirmed my parenting philosophy and is also a really fun read, as far as parenting goes.

I loathed:

1. "Bookish" - Olivia Long
   Romance. None of the characters had any dimension. Papier mache leads who fall in love for no discernible reason. No chemistry. Un-erotic erotica with weird, jarring word choices (ie, mons).
2. "The Billionaire's Fake Girlfriend" (Parts 1, 2 & 3) - Sierra Rose
   Romance. Why did I keep reading these? The whole time it felt like I was stuck on a public bus listening to two teenage girls gossip about their obviously made up older boyfriends.
3. "Prince With Benefits" - Nicole Snow
   Romance. Just ick. The hero was 100% ick and was not redeemed.
4. "The Spinster and The Earl" - Beverly Adam
   Regency Romance. Interesting premise but terribly written. I was constantly jarred out of the story.
5. "Because of Him" - Jessica Roe
   Romance. This book has a disclaimer that it's not suitable for anyone under the age of 15, which is unfortunate as they are the ones most likely to enjoy it. The LL is a teenager dating an older man and the whole storyline has this horrific power-play that I found off-putting. Add to that the obvious immaturity of both characters and I finished with the sense that maybe I'm just a little too old for this crap.