Maya Banks 'Never Seduce a Scot'

Never Seduce a Scot (The Montgomerys & Armstrongs #1)
★★★★★
Published: September 25, 2012
Recommend it for: Romantics. Historical-Romance addicts. Lovers of Scotland & anyone who wants a Highlander for their own!

BLURB:
Eveline Armstrong is fiercely loved and protected by her powerful clan, but outsiders consider her "touched." Beautiful, fey, with a level, intent gaze, she doesn't speak. Content with her life of seclustion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside worlds to view her as daft. But when an arranged marriage to a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty- unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice to deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions.

Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love.

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This book was phenomenal! I started reading and just couldn't put it down... it was like crack umm.. really really (really!) good chocolate. And brownies. With ice cream. And sprinkles... all kinds of indulgence.

Eveline Armstrong is a heroine to be inspired by. Deaf from a riding accident, she has allowed her entire family - and other clans by reputation - to believe the fall caused her to become daft (brain damaged) in order to escape a marriage to an abusive man. This, however, doesn't prevent the King from ordering her marriage to the rival clan's laird to ensure a peace that neither side is happy about.

Despite Eveline's loss of hearing, an unwanted marriage, and a hostile new clan- nothing breaks her spirit. She is determined to find the bright side, the positive, and she keeps trying to make a place for herself in her new environment- slowly winning over her new family. Banks made the reader fell what Eveline felt, her determination, her intellect, her courage... and her devastation when she thought her new clan would never accept her. The humiliation, Eveline being so close to resignation, was heartbreaking. Her words "I want to go home" so sorrow-filled, so final, that it made me tear-up. It was the first and only time Eveline, herself, expressed any doubt and negativity towards her situation. I couldn't help but imagine being in her position... and realizing that I might have given up far sooner than she.

Now Graeme. Oh, so wonderful! It is refreshing to have a hero in a story (any story, any genre!) admit his love, at least to himself, freely. Willingly. *Firstly* ... Without needing the heroine to beat him over the head and drag the words from him! Graeme's care for Eveline was apparent from the beginning, and continued even after he learned his wife was not daft (and it definitely didn't take him three years to figure it out! It makes me wonder about life at the Armstrong keep...) He championed his wife even when his clan, his family, would've seen Eveline pushed aside and forgotten- an unwanted intruder to the Montgomery lifestyle.

His response to her sorrow- "Give me a chance to make you happy" made me giddy - not only because he fully admitted how much she meant to him, but also because, in spite of it all, he put her, her feelings, about all else. I loved him and could easily see why Eveline fell for him too.

My favorite moment:
Graeme riding out to meet his father-in-law and the entire Armstrong army:
"My love for her [Eveline] is stronger than my hatred of you."

Final thoughts:
I need the next book!

Happy Release Day : Archangel's Storm

Archangel's Storm

By Nalini Singh

Gorgeous black wings: made for night flying!

The 5th book in her Guild Hunter series is now out! This book focuses on the angel spymaster _Jason_ as the hero.

With wings of midnight and an affinity for shadows, Jason courts darkness. But now, with the Archangel Neha's consort lying murdered in the jewel-studded palace that was his prison and her rage threatening cataclysmic devastation, Jason steps into the light, knowing he must unearth the murderer before it is too late.

Earning Neha's trust comes at a price-Jason must tie himself to her bloodline through the Princess Mahiya, a woman with secrets so dangerous, she trusts no one. Least of all an enemy spymaster.

With only their relentless hunt for a violent, intelligent killer to unite them, Jason and Mahiya embark on a quest that leads to a centuries-old nightmare...and to the dark storm of an unexpected passion that threatens to drench them both in blood.

Book 1 :Elena & Raphael:

Book 3 :Elena & Raphael:

Want to know more? Start from the beginning!

Book 2 :Elena & Raphael:

Book 4 :Dmitri & Honor:

Kelly Creagh's 'Enshadowed'

Enshadowed (Nevermore #2)

✭✭✭✭✭

Published: August 28, 2012

Recommend it for: Everyone. Anyone. Lover's of Poe, YA, lost-love, & kick-butt cheerleaders!

BLURB:

True love takes a twisted turn in the second book of this modern gothic romance trilogy channeling the dark brilliance of Edgar Allan Poe.

While Varen remains a prisoner in a perilous dream world where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life, Isobel travels to Baltimore to confront the dark figure known throughout the world as the Poe Toaster. This man, the same man who once appeared to Isobel in her dreams and abandoned her in Varen's nightmare world, holds the key to saving Varen.

     But when Isobel discovers a way to return to this dream world, she finds herself swept up in a realm that not only holds remnants of Egar Allan Poe's presence, but has also now taken on the characteristics of Varen's innermost self. It is a world of fear, terror, and anger.

     When Isobel once more encounters Varen, she finds him changed. And now Isobel must face a new adversary-one who also happens to be her greatest love.

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Wow. Just wow.

I thought Enshadowed was extremely well written. Creagh seamlessly wove her two worlds, reality & Poe/Varen's dreamland, so that the reader was questioning what was a dream right along with Isobel. She continues to incorporate Poe_his writing, his mystery_ so well there were moments when I found myself wondering if she [Creagh] knows something the rest of us don't!

It was amazing to read about Isobel in her hunt to find Varen and realize just how much she, herself, has grown and matured as a person. A character. She is no longer that girl from Nevermore (book 1) who initially let status/social quo dictate her actions or what she should care about. She honestly thought about the consequences of her actions. It was refreshing to read about a YA heroine who acknowledged how her actions effected her family without shrugging it off because she had found "the one". The pain she felt as she watched her family life split, the guilt at her role in her family's rift, and her helplessness to stop it was ever-present. Her need to save Varen was too strong, her feelings undeniable.

Though Varen himself wasn't as present in this book_& I definitely missed his sarcastic wit!_ Isobel's feelings and dreams kept his presence very much alive. Her absolute resolve to find him just as enjoyable addicting to read, her dedication just as heartfelt and touching. I couldn't put this book down!

The ending, as heartbreaking as it was a cliff-hanger to rival cliff-hangers, made me gasp, cry, and ultimately want *need* the final book!

I leave you with one of my absolute favorite moments:

[from the heart-wrenching ending, Varen's Pov, finally acknowledging his mistake. What he had done to his love, to Isobel]

"He clutched the watch hard in his fist, determined to destroy it, to prove that it couldn't be real. That she hadn't come here because of him, for him.

That he hadn't done what he knew he had."