Joint Review: We'll Always Have Paris by Jessica Hart

Yesterday, our friend and fellow blogger nath invited me to her blog, Breezing Through, to buddy-review We’ll Always Have Paris by Jessica Hart, a sweet and funny contemporary romance, with a happy heroine and a straight-laced hero. It was a different experience for me because this is my first joint review ever. Fortunately, nath is a pro so I was in good hands. Make sure to stop by and tell us what you think!

You can also find nath on her other blog, the wonderful and appropriately named Books, Books, and more Books. Thank you nath for inviting me and I can’t wait to do it again!

Guest Review: The Captain and Claire by Gabriella West

I bought this rather expensive short story because I liked the cover and sample. It’s narrated by Betsy, a recently widowed young woman. Her husband committed suicide after the stock market crash of 1929. Hungry for change and adventure, she boards a ship bound for England.

Betsy’s husband was much older, and unable to spark her passions. She’s naïve about sex but wants to take a lover. On the first night she meets the Captain, a handsome, bearded gentleman, and Claire, a glamorous Englishwoman. The two women hit it off. Claire tells Betsy that the Captain is a fantastic bed partner, very discreet and well-endowed. She claims that he loves innocent, buxom blondes like Betsy. Then she kisses Betsy goodnight. Ooh la la!

Review: Caught in the Act by Jill Sorenson

It’s no secret that I love Ms. Sorenson’s books and that she’s become one of my favorite Romantic Suspense authors. Her stories have it all: great action, complex characters and scorching hot sex (very important!). Caught in the Act is no exception.

Karina Strauss has a successful store where she sells Latin American crafts of all kinds. She regularly crosses the border to Mexico in order to buy more objects. One day, Maria, a woman she’s friendly with, asks her to help her get to the US, and Karina, an immigrant herself, decides to help her. That’s how she meets Adam Cortez, the Border Protection officer who stops her. She tries to seduce him into distraction but he’s no fool, however he gets a call and decides to let her pass (maybe he was a bit of a fool).

Help Wanted: Guest Reviewers

Hi everyone!

I have mentioned a couple of times before that we’re looking for guest reviewers, so this post is to give you more details about it, let's call it the official post.

We have been blogging for a year now and I would love to add more weekly reviews. Right now we’re reviewing an average of 3 to 4 books a week, which is great but pretty much our limit. So we would love to add a couple of guest reviewers to our team. I’m calling it “guest” to keep the pressure out, this doesn’t have to be a permanent position with a mandatory number of reviews, If you only wish to guest review one, that’s fine. If, on the other hand, you feel pretty serious about reviewing but find the creation of your own blog a daunting task, this is the perfect opportunity to join a blog that’s already there, all the fun, none of the fights with Blogger.

If you’re interested email me at brie.clementineATgmail.com. I will give you all the details and answer all your questions. If you have reviews posted on sites like Goodreads or Amazon that would serve as samples, please include a link. 

Remember that we review Romance and fiction with strong romantic elements, so that’s what we’re looking for. I’m particularly interested in F/F reviewers, since that’s a genre we have been neglecting and I would love to feature some of its books. 

That’s it. If you are interested and/or want to know more, contact me directly!

A review and a half: An Inconvenient Mate and Lawe’s Justice by Lora Leigh

Note: these reviews won’t make any sense if you haven’t read this series. You should go and start from book 1 Tempting the Beast and take notes along the way (if you do that, let me know because I’m having trouble following the chronology).

This review is a little different than the usual. First, I’m reviewing An Inconvenient Mate, a novella part of an anthology, and then, I’m reviewing Lawe’s Justice the last novel from the Breed Series. The main reason for this is that both stories “happen” at the same time, meaning that the timeline between one and another is almost the same. The other reason is that I read them both almost on the same day.

News and Announcements: Cheating Heroes & Heartbreakers

I’ve got some news to share with you all!

I’ll be blogging over at Heroes &Heartbreakers, the community website dedicated to everything Romance. I bet you’re already familiar with it but if you don’t, you should check it out because it’s a great way to interact with other Romance fans, find out about new books and other interesting topics.

Today I’m blogging about cheating heroes with a twist, because I talk about two books featuring two different types of cheating heroes that I actually enjoyed (I reviewed one of the books here). I think it’s a different take on a much talked about subject, one that show us that maybe we can enjoy hated tropes when handled right. So come on over and let me know what you think!

Also, in case you’re wondering, Romance Around the Corner will remain the same, I’ll still be reviewing and blogging here as usual. The offer of a guest reviewer spot is still open, though, so if you’re interested email me at brie.clementineATgmail.com. I’ll write a detailed post on this next week.

I’m out for the weekend so I won’t be able to answer comments until Sunday, I hope you enjoy the post and let me know how you like it.

See you around!

Review: The Shape of Desire by Sharon Shinn

If you’re a fan of Paranormal Romance you probably recognize Ms. Shinn’s name. She’s the author of the Samaria books, a popular series that’s quite well-known even among readers like me, who aren’t die-hard fans of the genre. Last year I finally managed to read her novella, Nocturne, that was part of the Angel of Darkness Anthology, and I loved it. So when I heard about this new series I decided it was time to read one of her full-length novels. 

Maria Devane and Dante Romano have been secret lovers for over fifteen years. I say secret lovers because Dante is a shifter who spends more time as animal than human, and his random “shifting” patterns make it impossible for them to be out as a couple. So they have developed this routine in which every time Dante is human he goes to Maria’s house, eats her food, fucks her, and leaves her again. This is the part where I explain that Dante isn’t you regular shifter, no alpha werewolf protecting his mate whom he loves in a sweet but creepy possessive way. Nope, first, Dante can shift into any animal, cat, bear, cow… He can’t control the animal although the environment helps, so if he happens to be near a farm, chances are he’ll turn into a farm animal. Second, he can’t control the change. He feels it coming, but he can’t avoid it, same goes from going from animal to human. The older he gets, though, the more frequent and longer the shifts become. So their relationship, which began in college, has turned into this thing resembling the most dysfunctional long distance secret relationship ever.