Category Archives: Random

Write On Review-a-thon 2/28/14 – 3/1/14

Write On Review-a-Thon
The Write On review-a-thon is a monthly event created and hosted by Brianna at The Book Vixen. It’s 2 days dedicated to getting reviews done, whether you have one review to write or 30+. This edition of the review-a-thon takes place all day Friday, February 28th and Saturday, March 1st. Let’s get those reviews done!

This will be my first Write On review-a-thon! Here’s the list of reviews I need to write:

  1. Hard As You Can by Laura Kaye
  2. Once In A Lifetime by Jill Shalvis
  3. The Dark Affair by Maire Claremont
  4. Bound by Lorelei James
  5. Need You Tonight by Roni Loren
  6. Theirs to Cherish by Shayla Black

I always seem to let my review list pile up until the last minute, but at least this time I’ll have some extra incentive to meet my deadlines. Many thanks to The Book Vixen for hosting this event.

UPDATE: So I ended up adding a book that I have put off for way too long, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to make the 3/1 deadline. Maybe next time I need to sign up for a 3 day review-a-thon!

FINAL UPDATE: I got the last two done but not officially during the review-a-thon period. Better luck next time, I guess!

My Best Reads of 2013

This list originally appeared at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance

Top 10 2013 Releases:

Don’t Let Go – Skye Warren

 

Covet – Tracey Garvis-Graves

 

Unbound – Cara McKenna

 

Unforgiven – Anne Calhoun

 

The Mistress – Tiffany Reisz

 

The Cursed – Alyssa Day

 

Because We Belong – Beth Kery

 

Lady In Red – Maire Claremont

REVIEW

 

Whispers – Carolyn Jewel

 

Run to You – Charlotte Stein

 


Honorable Mentions:

Series:

 

Pierced Hearts – Cari Silverwood

 

 

Consequences – Aleatha Romig

   

 

Club Wicked – Ann Mayburn

   

 

Serials:

Just One Night – Kyra Davis

  

 

Not Until You (Loving on the Edge) – Roni Loren

       

 

The Haunted Heart: Winter – Josh Lanyon

Previous Releases: 

Turn It Up – Inez Kelley

The Fifth Favor – Shelby Reed

Heartless – Mary Balogh

Review: Roman Holiday 1: Chained by Ruthie Knox

Roman Holiday 1: Chained (Roman Holiday #1)Roman Holiday 1: Chained by Ruthie Knox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at The Romance Evangelist.

Ruthie Knox has only been a published author for a year or so, but in that short time, she’s vaulted to the upper reaches of my list of favorite romance writers. So when the opportunity came to review her new serial book Roman Holiday, I was happy to say yes.

Ashley Bowman had been raised by her grandmother in an aging but beloved vacation rental home community in the Florida Keys and had always assumed that the houses and land would one day pass to her in return. But when Ashley returns from Bolivia to find her grandmother dead and buried, she also discovers that Sunnyvale Vacation Rentals now belongs to the type of man she dislikes the most: the predatory Miami land developer. Maybe chaining herself to a palm tree just ahead of an approaching hurricane wasn’t the smartest choice, but it’s stopped the demolition, at least temporarily, and gotten the attention of that slick handsome Cadillac guy who refused to answer all her calls before now.

Roman Diaz looks the part of the evil businessman that Ashley has already assigned to him, but inside he still feels like he’s faking it until he makes it. He’s worked hard to climb up the food chain in the Miami development scene, and building his dream project in the heart of Ashley’s beloved Sunnyvale is the keystone to reaching the next level of his life goals. Now if he can only convince Ashley to unchain herself from that tree before something bad happens to her and derails his plans forever.

Ashley is just this side of appearing to be too scatterbrained and impetuous for me to like at first. Trying to protect her presumed inheritance from the bulldozer isn’t the first badly planned action she’s ever taken in her life – it’s just the most recent and most ill-advised. If the story was just about her, I’d probably bail right here, despite my love of Ruthie Knox.

But Roman… ah, Roman. He’s another story entirely. There are unplumbed depths to Roman that he clearly would like to remain unexplored. If Ashley appears to wear her emotions on her face, Roman is the reverse image. He’s cultivated a veneer of success that may not bear extended scrutiny, and having to deal with anyone who looks too closely is what appears to unnerve him the most.

In Roman Holiday, Ruthie Knox is setting us up for an opposites attract romance, and based on her track record, I’m more than ready to follow her on this road trip. It should be fun to watch the immovable object of Ashley meet the irresistible force of Roman, and see how they manage to fumble their way to a mutual happy ending.

View all my reviews

There’s another item checked off my bucket list.

I’m in the Wall Street Journal, confessing how many audiobooks I owned as of last Wednesday. (It’s more now.)

Can You Hear Me Now? The New Explosion in Audio Books

What Alexandra didn’t mention in that final quote was that I listened to that book – all 32 hours and 2 minutes of it – on a Palm Pilot. Yes, that was the first book I ever bought on Audible over 7 years ago and I still remember whole passages as though it were yesterday. It’s a fantastic story with a wonderful narrator and it’s still one of the best books I ever “read” that way. The scene where Mr. Norrell shows up the theoretical magicians with his practical magic is especially memorable and I can still quote parts of how the narrator made it come alive for me.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on Audible

It’s me, all in one place. (Cue the dramatic musical sting!)

Welcome to The Romance Evangelist. This blog will contain an aggregation of all the reviews I have written for various book blogs (with full attribution and links to those sites), and any other random crap I feel the need to share, including the occasional independent review. You can also stop by and say hello on Twitter: @mharvey816