Title: Bond Girl

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Author: Erin Duffy

Publisher: Harper Collins, Feb 2012

Source: Free for Review from Amazon Vine Program

Rating: 4

Sexy Rating: 3

Description from amazon.com:

When other little girls were dreaming about becoming doctors or lawyers, Alex Garrett set her sights on conquering the high-powered world of Wall Street. And though she’s prepared to fight her way into an elitist boys’ club, or duck the occasional errant football, she quickly realizes she’s in over her head when she’s relegated to a kiddie-size folding chair with her new moniker—Girlie—inscribed in Wite-Out across the back.

No matter. She’s determined to make it in bond sales at Cromwell Pierce, one of the Street’s most esteemed brokerage firms. Keeping her eyes on the prize, the low Girlie on the totem pole will endure whatever comes her way—whether trekking to the Bronx for a $1,000 wheel of Parmesan cheese; discovering a secretary’s secret Friday night slumber/dance party in the conference room; fielding a constant barrage of “friendly” practical jokes; learning the ropes from Chick, her unpredictable, slightly scary, loyalty-demanding boss; babysitting a colleague while he consumes the contents of a vending machine on a $28,000 bet; or eluding the advances of a corporate stalker who’s also one of the firm’s biggest clients.

Ignoring her friends’ pleas to quit, Alex excels (while learning how to roll with the punches and laugh at herself) and soon advances from lowly analyst to slightly-less-lowly associate. Suddenly, she’s addressed by her real name, and the impenetrable boys’ club has transformed into forty older brothers and one possible boyfriend. Then the apocalypse hits, and Alex is forced to choose between sticking with Cromwell Pierce as it teeters on the brink of disaster or kicking off her Jimmy Choos and running for higher ground.

Fast-paced, funny, and thoroughly addictive, Bond Girl will leave you cheering for Alex: a feisty, ambitious woman with the spirit to stand up to the best (and worst) of the boys on the Street—and ultimately rise above them all.

**

The heroine tried to stand up to the boys in “The Business” but most of the time all she did was kow-tow to their pranks and ridiculous requests.  She thought that was the way to get ahead because that is what they told her.  That she lasted as long as she did was a testament to her stamina.  Although I do wonder why she put up with all that she did.

I enjoyed this book for the look inside the workings of a Wall Street firm.  I don’t doubt for a minute that working in that misogynistic environment was everything the author claimed.    Of course this was only a novel but it reads like a personal experience.  It is written, for the most part, in dialogue.  It points out that it is still a man’s world.

I recommend this one for anyone interested in the day to day workings of a Wall Street trading floor.

And still more smiles from my friend Patt and engrish.com:

Title: The Duke of Shadows

Genre: Historical Romance

Author: Meredith Duran

Publisher: Pocket Star Books, 2008

Source: Purchase

Rating: 4

Sexy Rating: 5

Description from amazon.com:

From exotic sandstone palaces…

Sick of tragedy, done with rebellion, Emmaline Martin vows to settle quietly into British Indian society. But when the pillars of privilege topple, her fiancé’s betrayal leaves Emma no choice. She must turn for help to the one man whom she should not trust, but cannot resist: Julian Sinclair, the dangerous and dazzling heir to the Duke of Auburn.

To the marble halls of London…

In London, they toast Sinclair with champagne. In India, they call him a traitor. Cynical and impatient with both worlds, Julian has never imagined that the place he might belong is in the embrace of a woman with a reluctant laugh and haunted eyes. But in a time of terrible darkness, he and Emma will discover that love itself can be perilous — and that a single decision can alter one’s life forever.

Destiny follows wherever you run.

A lifetime of grief later, in a cold London spring, Emma and Julian must finally confront the truth: no matter how hard one tries to deny it, some pasts cannot be disowned…and some passions never die.

**

This was my first introduction to Meredith Duran’s writing.  Since this debut novel was written she has written several that I look forward to reading.

It is difficult to plop this book in the HR genre alone.  It is filled with so much action and adventure that it is almost destined for the Thriller category.  The plot, set in Colonial India during native uprisings, can be dark and very violent at times.  This is not my favorite type of romance novel but when so well written I can only say that this is one of my favorite novels.

Our heroine was in dangerous situations throughout the book and of course survived against the odds.  Our hero wasn’t always there to do the saving so she was not a shrinking violet but a woman who relied on herself to save herself.  I am partial to feisty heroines and Emmaline should be the template-feisty-heroine for all novels.  I also appreciated that she didn’t back down when faced by the villain.  There were some misunderstandings that were resolved rather quickly.  The heroine did seem to succumb to the hero rather quickly but all is forgiven on that score since I was rooting for their reconciliation.

The war and fight scenes were graphic, sometimes disturbing, but always in keeping with the books message.

I recommend this book to those who want lots of adventure and action along with their romance.

**

My thanks go to Mo and Edyta for recommending this book to me.

Genre: Historical Romance

Author: Julia Quinn

Publisher: Avon, 2008

Source: Purchase

Rating: 4

Sexy Rating: 5

Description from amazon.com:

Amelia Willoughby has been engaged to the Duke of Wyndham for as long as she can remember. Literally. A mere six months old when the contracts were signed, she has spent the rest of her life waiting. And waiting. And waiting . . . for Thomas Cavendish, the oh-so-lofty duke, to finally get around to marrying her. But as she watches him from afar, she has a sneaking suspicion that he never thinks about her at all . . .

It’s true. He doesn’t. Thomas rather likes having a fiancée—all the better to keep the husband-hunters at bay—and he does intend to marry her . . . eventually. But just when he begins to realize that his bride might be something more than convenient, Thomas’s world is rocked by the arrival of his long-lost cousin, who may or may not be the true Duke of Wyndham. And if Thomas is not the duke, then he’s not engaged to Amelia. Which is the cruelest joke of all, because this arrogant and illustrious duke has made the mistake of falling in love . . . with his own fiancée!

**

There was a bit of controversy about this book.  Many readers were disappointed saying that it was basically a rehash of the first book, THE LOST DUKE OF WYNDHAM.  Lucky for me I totally missed reading the first book and so thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

We really don’t know until the end who will retain the title of Duke and what will happen to the other.  This makes for a page turning plot.  The characters are well drawn and the action is non-existent but true romance for all is the cornerstone of this novel.

I liked this book and I highly recommend it to all Historical Romance fans.  However, perhaps you should read this one and not the other or you too may be disappointed.

                (Book #1, Fallen Angels)

Genre: Historical Regency Romance

Author: Sarah MacLean

Publisher: Avon, Feb. 28 2012 (preorder available)

Source: Free for review from Amazon Vine Program

Rating: 5

Sexy Rating: 5

Description from back of book:

What a scoundrel wants, a scoundrel gets. . .

A decade ago, the Marquess of Bourne was cast from society with nothing but his title. Now a partner in London’s most exclusive gaming hell, the cold, ruthless Bourne will do whatever it takes to regain his inheritance—including marrying perfect, proper Lady Penelope Marbury.

A broken engagement and years of disappointing courtships have left Penelope with little interest in a quiet, comfortable marriage, and a longing for something more. How lucky that her new husband has access to an unexplored world of pleasures.

Bourne may be a prince of London’s illicit underworld, but he vows to keep Penelope untouched by its wickedness—a challenge indeed as the lady discovers her own desires, and her willingness to wager anything for them . . . .even her heart.

**

When Sarah MacLean burst on the scene with her fantastic NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE, I was delighted to jump on the 5 star bandwagon.  It was a fabulous book!  Then she followed that gem with two more books in the trilogy/series that, although they were good they were not up to the first book.  It was disappointing.

This new book has once again put her in five star territory.  It has all the makings of a delightful romance; a tortured, driven hero, a sweet but sassy heroine and enough angst between the two and in the plot to keep you up all night reading.

Michael, Lord Bourne is not a nice guy.  I couldn’t help but be very aggravated with him most of the time.  He was obsessed with revenge and we know that that is the slippery slope to hell. But, he is handsome and he is not really as bad as he would like to think of himself.  Penelope has always loved him since childhood.  He treats her poorly but she still cannot let him go.  Can she save him from himself, for herself?

MacLean can write rings around most authors with realistic dialog and breathless love scenes with the exquisite build up of sexual tension.  She is a master at developing characterization.  We see the hero and heroine both gradually grow into the adults we want them to be.  This is pure magic in her hands.

There is even a hint of what is to come in the next book of the Fallen Angels series.

The Fantastic Flying Books

From Stephanie Hayward’s blog  http://smhbookreviews.wordpress.com/  .  Thanks Stephanie.

 First up are those two from Downton Abbey that seem like they would never go together but end up having fabulous screen Chemistry (yes with a capital “C”).  And is this the most romantic declaration of love?  Don’t you want someone living in a fog of mysery because they are away from you?

From Downton Abbey, Season 2:

“I’ve lived in such a fog of misery since I left you.”- Mr. Bates to Anna

Whitney Huston, such a tragic adult life.  Here is her fabulous “ I will always love you”:

Cyndy Lauper Time after Time, 1984,  Crazy hair and clothes but the sentiment is for all who love unconditionally.

Enrique, He can be my hero, yup I’m posting this again.

* Subscribers please go to my blog to be able to view the vids. 

Did you know that Caroline Herrera has bottled 212 sexy men? Round of applause for Caroline!

And finally a tribute to one of the most famous couples of the twentieth century. Passion’s own:

Title: The Sense of an Ending

Genre: General Fiction

Author: Julian Barnes

Publisher: Random House, 2011

Source: Free for review from Amazon Vine Program

Rating: 4.5

Sexy Rating: 4

Description from amazon.com:

This intense new novel follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he has never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance, one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony Webster thought he’d left all this behind as he built a life for himself, and by now his marriage and family and career have fallen into an amicable divorce and retirement. But he is then presented with a mysterious legacy that obliges him to reconsider a variety of things he thought he’d understood all along, and to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single sitting, with stunning psychological and emotional depth and sophistication, The Sense of an Ending is a brilliant new chapter in Julian Barnes’s oeuvre.

**

What if the times of your life that you remember really didn’t happen the way you remember them?  What if you get to old age and the history, your history is altered by new facts?  And what if those facts rock you to your core?

THE SENSE OF AN ENDING delves into these questions in a profound and moving way.  Julian Barnes kept me turning pages to unravel the life of Tony Webster as Tony was trying to make sense of his life and those around him.  But it is only when we have all the facts that the history reinvents itself and begs for a new look as we try to understand, as Tony tries to understand. There is new angst as we/he search our memories for errors that we may have missed.

This is a beautifully written book.  It is character driven by characters that are so well drawn that we can see and feel them as we read.  But we are only privy to Tony’s memories and so we can’t know everything until Tony knows.  Even then we can’t know everything.

I highly recommend this novel.

(The Sense of an Ending won the prestigious Man Booker Prize of 2011)