Phyl's 5 Phaves from October
My Phillies have just lost the World Series. But October was a fabulous month as they made their run this far and I have to admit I enjoyed baseball more than reading. But I did manage to pick up a few books to occupy my time between games.
5. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas. The latest offering in the Hathaway family series was a fun, enjoyable read. Kleypas rarely fails to deliver, although this won’t be among my very favorites by her. Nonetheless, I rather enjoyed the way Harry Rutledge manipulated events to get the woman he wanted, even though it took him awhile to realize he was in love with Poppy. However, I did think that for a man as jaded and closed off as Harry, his transformation to happy family man was a little too quick. I’m looking forward to Leo’s story next. That one looks fun.
4. A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr. I continue to enjoy this series and the full cast of characters in Virgin River. Once again we have a widowed heroine and a hero hiding from the world after serving in Iraq. While many of the tropes are the same, this book did have a different feel than the other 4 I’ve now read in the series. That different feel is the result of the fact that the book focused more on Ian and Marcie and not so much on the rest of the Virgin River cast. I enjoyed Marcie’s persistence—she was going to get Ian to listen to her come hell or high water.
3. Black at Heart by Leslie Parrish. This was the third book in Parrish’s Black Cats series and the hero is the namesake of the FBI team, Wyatt Blackstone. The heroine is Lily, a former member of the team who presumably died at the end of the 2nd book, Pitch Black. This book lacks the suspense of the previous two. It also shouldn’t be read without reading the first two. But it works very well as Wyatt and Lily’s relationship changes while they solve the mystery of what happened to Lily. There’s room here for more books and I think Parrish does romantic suspense very well. I hope we see more Black Cats books in the future.
2. Black Silk by Judith Ivory. Well, I wrote about it just the other day. It was hard to decide whether to make this number 1 or 2, but I think it lost points on that bit where Submit decides to run off to America.
1. The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter. In the books leading up to this one, Easterbrook is painted as an autocratic recluse. At long last we learn why he is such a recluse and I really loved the premise of this book. It was not at all what I expected. And like the previous books, this one has a strong heroine in Leona Montgomery. There’s a very interesting subplot in the book about the opium trade as well. Like many other readers, I did feel this was the strongest book in the series and very enjoyable.
5. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas. The latest offering in the Hathaway family series was a fun, enjoyable read. Kleypas rarely fails to deliver, although this won’t be among my very favorites by her. Nonetheless, I rather enjoyed the way Harry Rutledge manipulated events to get the woman he wanted, even though it took him awhile to realize he was in love with Poppy. However, I did think that for a man as jaded and closed off as Harry, his transformation to happy family man was a little too quick. I’m looking forward to Leo’s story next. That one looks fun.
4. A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr. I continue to enjoy this series and the full cast of characters in Virgin River. Once again we have a widowed heroine and a hero hiding from the world after serving in Iraq. While many of the tropes are the same, this book did have a different feel than the other 4 I’ve now read in the series. That different feel is the result of the fact that the book focused more on Ian and Marcie and not so much on the rest of the Virgin River cast. I enjoyed Marcie’s persistence—she was going to get Ian to listen to her come hell or high water.
3. Black at Heart by Leslie Parrish. This was the third book in Parrish’s Black Cats series and the hero is the namesake of the FBI team, Wyatt Blackstone. The heroine is Lily, a former member of the team who presumably died at the end of the 2nd book, Pitch Black. This book lacks the suspense of the previous two. It also shouldn’t be read without reading the first two. But it works very well as Wyatt and Lily’s relationship changes while they solve the mystery of what happened to Lily. There’s room here for more books and I think Parrish does romantic suspense very well. I hope we see more Black Cats books in the future.
2. Black Silk by Judith Ivory. Well, I wrote about it just the other day. It was hard to decide whether to make this number 1 or 2, but I think it lost points on that bit where Submit decides to run off to America.
1. The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter. In the books leading up to this one, Easterbrook is painted as an autocratic recluse. At long last we learn why he is such a recluse and I really loved the premise of this book. It was not at all what I expected. And like the previous books, this one has a strong heroine in Leona Montgomery. There’s a very interesting subplot in the book about the opium trade as well. Like many other readers, I did feel this was the strongest book in the series and very enjoyable.
Tempt Me at Twilight- I could not finish it(I stopped reading after she left him). I just did not believe it at all. And the use of… “Poppy this, and Poppy that” going on and on of how much her family loved her. I just could not stomach it. I will try Madeline Hunter’s though, that sounds like something I might like. Thank you:)
ReplyDeleteSorry your team lost. I suppose I should be happy that a NY team won the series, but well.. I don't follow baseball (OR American football), so what ev. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI have to catch up with Ms. Kleypas' historicals. : )
Christina, I hope you like Madeline Hunter better than the Kleypas. Let me know. And you're welcome!
ReplyDeleteAnd Christine, I know I'm a little out there when it comes to sports, lol! I'm used to it. Meanwhile, yes, you do have to catch up :-)