review: passing love by jacqueline e. luckett

Although her married lover insists she not go to Paris alone, Nicole does so anyway (earning instant favor with me). The trip turns into quite the revelation as Nicole learns, at age 56, the truth of her parentage—a story told in both the present-day and in the 1940/50s with chapters from Ruby’s perspective.

Passing Love is a masterful work. Each page had me ready for the next as I desperately wanted to know what happened to Ruby and what Nicole would discover next. The descriptions of the different time periods and places were incredible; I particularly appreciated Luckett’s contrasting of race relations in the US and Europe during and after WWII.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Grand Central Publishing.

giveaway winner: jami alden and dee davis

holdenj is the lucky winner of Run from Fear and Deadly Dance. Congrats!

giveaway: how to ravish a rake

Want to read about Amy and Will's romance for yourself? Hachette has provided one giveaway copy for one of my lucky blog readers.

From the publisher:
"SCANDALOUS DESIRES...
Amy Hardwick has one last Season to shake off her wallflower image and make a love match. If she can't, she'll set aside her dreams of romance and return home to a suitor who can provide security-if little else. What she doesn't count on is the inappropriate-and irresistible-attention lavished on her in a darkened library by rake extraordinaire Will "The Devil" Darcett...
DEVILISH DELIGHT
When Will is caught in a tryst with the ton's shyest miss, he knows he must offer for her hand. Yet Amy is not the shrinking violet she seems to be. Passion lies beneath her prim exterior and Will is eager to release it. But winning Amy isn't simply a matter of seduction; first, Will must convince her that he's mended his wicked ways..."

The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower (one extra each for the blog and Twitter) or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on April 21. Winners will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winners must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.

review: how to ravish a rake by vicky dreiling

This post contains affiliate links.

Will needs to marry a wealthy woman so he can pay off his gambling debts; Amy needs to marry because, well, that’s what women did in 1818. When the pair end up locked in a wine cellar, they’re forced to marry to avoid scandal. Although they don’t really know each other, the marriage fulfills the very basic requirements both need; however, this also means it’s a long time before the two get romantic. In fact, they sleep separately the night they’re married. Amy is quite prudish initially, balking at Will seeing her naked in the bath, but after a slow seduction that involves posing nude for Will’s painting, they finally consummate the marriage. There are sweet scenes and it was nice to see a couple take things slow since so many romance novels have the characters immediately jumping into bed. Despite the sweetness, Will and Amy were a little boring for the first 100 pages or so. I enjoyed these two as secondary characters in Vicky Dreiling’s previous books, but I didn’t find them strong enough to carry How to Ravish a Rake on their own.
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Forever Romance.

review: vanished in the night by eileen carr

Eileen Carr’s thrilling Vanished in the Night has Veronica learning the tragic truth behind the disappearance of her older half-brother. When Veronica was a child, Max was sent to a reform school; one year later he vanished forever. But now after nearly 20 years someone has decided the truth should be known. First Max’s bones are found at a construction site, then people connected to the reform school are murdered in quick succession. Clearly Max’s death is not a simple case of a rebellious teen getting into more trouble than he could handle.

Although the original crime took place decades ago, the peripheral murders kept the suspense ever present. Not knowing exactly how the reform school connection would come into play further added to the suspense and made it difficult to guess the killer before Carr wanted to make that revelation. Vanished in the Night is a gripping suspense with just the right mix of romance.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Pocket Books.

giveaway winners: hope ramsay and bella riley

Congratulations to Puttputt1198Eve and Kat who have won Last Chance Beauty Queen by Hope Ramsay and With This Kiss by Bella Riley!

review: sleepwalker by karen robards

Mick followed in her father’s footsteps and became a Detroit cop years after witnessing her mother’s murder. The trauma of that event frequently leads to her sleepwalking which is how she comes across the men who are burglarizing Uncle Nicco’s house on New Year’s Eve. Not about to let them get away, Mick confronts them as a cop until she sees the photos from Nicco’s safe. The photos implicate Nicco in a high-profile murder, which leads Mick to question everything, including the circumstances of her mother’s murder. So now Mick is running from Nicco’s security team along with one of the burglars, who just happens to be a very attractive man.

Sleepwalker sucked me in right away by not waiting even a minute to get into the action. From the beginning, the pace was quick and the danger was always present. Just like Mick, I was trying to figure out who she could trust. The answer was pretty surprising. Karen Robards kept the suspense going throughout with many twists from beginning to end.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.