Review: A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

Fabulous retelling of Cinderella with all the wit and charm one would expect from Eloisa James. I loved the little tweaks she gave to the traditional fairy tale elements--an earthy godmother, a not so ugly stepsister, and a not-quite-glass slipper. And of course there was more to the relationship between Kate and her handsome prince than just one evening together at the ball. From their prickly first meeting to their growing attraction to one another, their chemistry zings off the page. James does a fabulous job of building their appreciation for one another and that combined with their wanting makes their HEA not only expected, but inevitable. These two belong together, and unlike the all too brief original fairy tale, James tells us, beautifully, why. This is going straight to my keeper shelf. (As soon as I buy my own copy--this one I read was an ARC loaned to me by a friend who, oddly enough, wants it back;) Loved. This. Book. See my original review at Goodreads

Review: CaddyGirls by V.K. Sykes

Wow. Sexy and surprisingly poignant contemporary romance debut from V.K. Sykes. Aspiring pro golfer Torrey Green is working two jobs in Las Vegas to save up for LPGA qualifying school. But what she really needs is a corporate sponsor to foot the bill. When she's booked through CaddyGirls.com to caddy for billionaire video game company CEO, Julian Grant, she can't help but feel like she's finally catching a break. Things get complicated when they meet and can't keep the attraction between them from burning out of control. But Torrey's need for a sponsor and Julian's participation in an immature bet soon has them at odds. Though there are enough steamy scenes to keep your average Blaze reader happy, it's the conflict between Torrey and Julian that adds chest-tightening intensity to CADDY GIRLS. I loved the fact that Torrey was strong enough to do the right thing, even if it meant throwing away her dream. And watching Julian come to the realization that he couldn't live without Torrey was sweet, indeed. Great book. Hope to see more like this from Sykes. See my original review on Goodreads

Micro Review: Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn

TEN THINGS is classic Julia Quinn, pairing a forthright country-bred debutante with a charming but feckless secret-novelist. The dialogue sparkles, the chemistry between the hero and heroine crackles and the very real threat that keeps them apart is loathsome enough that I breathed a sigh of relief when these two were finally able to declare themselves betrothed. A frothy, yet poignant and satisfying read. 
See my original review at Goodreads

Micro Review: Double Play by Jill Shalvis

Fun, sexy read, pitting an injured MLB Baseball pitcher against the straight-laced reporter who's been tasked to write a series of articles about his team. Shalvis did a great job of building the chemistry between these two to a fever pitch, and though none of the developments were particularly surprising, I felt compelled to keep on reading to see how things would work out. Looking forward to the second book in this series. 
See my original review at Goodreads.

Review: Finding Perfect by Susan Mallery

What can I say about a book that should have annoyed me at every turn, but ended up winning me over? When Pia learns that her friend Crystal, who just recently died of cancer, left her her three frozen embryos, I knew this was going to be a tough sell. Because it was pretty much a given that the book would involve Pia having the embryos implanted and then pregnancy/dating hijinks would ensue--and that's pretty much what happened. And yet, I found the relationship she formed with retired pro-football player, Raoul, incredibly sweet. What Mallery gives the reader is the old "another man's baby" plot from a different angle. And it works. For all that I found Pia's initial disclosure of her situation to Raoul problematic, once their partnership (he called himself her "Pregnancy Buddy") got going, it just worked. There were a couple of times when Pia's decisions stretched credibility (there seemed to be no real reason for her to go through with the implantation immediately besides the necessary timeline for the story) I found her to be an endearing and surprisingly strong heroine. And like the heroes in the two previous books in this series, Raoul tended toward the stubbornly foolish end of the hero spectrum, he was ultimately a likable alpha.  See my original review at Goodreads

Review: CHASING PERFECT by Susan Mallery

This was my first read by Susan Mallery, and it definitely will not be my last. CHASING PERFECT is the first in a new small town series set in Fool's Gold, California. The heroine, Charity Jones, is a city planner, who comes to the little town to take a new job with the city and to escape a bad breakup. When her first presentation is interrupted and helped considerably by a handsome stranger, she has no idea that he is world-famous cyclist, Josh Golden, the town's favorite son. Having sworn off unreliable men, Charity immediately pegs him as an ego-driven celebrity type who enjoys his fame a little too much, but the zing of attraction between them is tough to resist. 

What follows is a sexy, funny, and sometimes poignant romance between two people who have to get past their own misconceptions and self-doubts to get to their HEA. Charity's realization that she's been dressing down because of her career and her subsequent mini-makeover is handled particularly well, without the "ta-da" moments that so often accompany these kinds of plots. The glimpses into the dark side of Josh's celebrity are disturbing, and go a long way toward explaining Josh's distrust of women. The only problem I had with the story was with Charity's continued distrust of Josh after they had both declared their love. Even after she was told twice by two friends that he couldn't read her mind and guess what she wanted from their relationship, she continued to turn him away. It felt like an artificial roadblock that Mallery used to prolong the conflict and didn't ring true. Otherwise this is a well-written, charming story that fans of Rachel Gibson and Toni Blake should enjoy.

In which the Author is Inundated with ARCs

Have you ever felt lucky? Like really, really lucky?

It's no secret that I am a squeeing fangirl for certain authors. And in the past month or so I have been lucky enough, through no fault of my own, to receive ARCs of eagerly awaited upcoming books from three of my favorites: Toni Blake, Karen Rose and Julie Anne Long. Three wonderful authors, three completely different sub-genres.

Since, for me, part of the deal with receiving an ARC is writing a review (only if it's positive though--I don't do reviews for books I dislike, mostly because I am a writer myself and I don't like to pan my colleagues) I did so posthaste.

Trouble is, that it's lonely at the top of the ARC line. You can't share your favorite moments with other readers. You can't speculate about the next book. You can't even gush without feeling like a jerk for rubbing it in to all the poor slobs who weren't lucky enough to get an ARC. Not that I'm complaining;) I looooved all three books.

I'm curious about how other people feel about ARCs. Do you feel guilty like I do--despite the unmitigated joy of being able to read the book early? Do you revel in the knowledge that you're getting to read something before the teeming masses? Or do you just chalk it up to luck and enjoy the opportunity? Inquiring minds want to know!