Good morning! Am I a productive panda or what? Welcome to, believe it or not, ANOTHER REVIEW! =D #feelthepandaboss
This time, our subject is the second book in the Seduction series, from Lauren Smith: The Rakehell’s Seduction! I have received my copy from Barclay Publicity in exchange for an honest review and here we go! Thank you, guys!
HE’S MADE A DANGEROUS WAGER
Ambrose Worthing is no gentleman. He’s a proud cold-hearted rake who’s determined to stay a bachelor forever. He enjoys bedding a different woman every night without the risk of falling in love. When he hears about a wager over the seduction and ruination of the daughter of his father’s best friend, he knows he must intervene. Committing himself to the bet, he agrees to seduce Lady Alexandra Rockford—for her own good. He never expected the lady in question to be a beautiful, fiery creature who has passions of her own that call to his guarded heart.
SHE’S VOWED NEVER TO FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
Alexandra Rockford has sworn off men, her heart still broken from the false promises of a childhood sweetheart who left her to marry an heiress. When she stumbles into Ambrose outside of a country ball, she knows the rake is trouble. His smile, his touch, his forbidden kiss are all too tempting but being with him would ruin her. Determined to enjoy herself without falling in love, Alex can’t help but let her defenses down with the too charming rake. But when she discovers Ambrose is seducing her to win a bet, it will take everything Ambrose has to prove to her that he is worthy to love her.
Hi, there! Good afternoon, hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday so far! I’m here today to talk about my last finished book: Keeper of Pleas, by wonderful Annelie Wendeberg. She was awesome and great and sent me a review copy, but my cold got me a week later in finishing it 😦 Anyway, better late than never, right? Haha! Thanks again, Annelie!! What a mystery!!
Coroner Sévère gets himself into one of the most macabre cases of his career when nine corpses are discovered by chance in England. The macabre part? All are newborns with obvious signs of violent deaths.
The mystery gets bigger when the mortician responsible for the bodies goes missing and it’s found dead in the Thames. What at first seemed two very distinct cases without any relation between themselves soon get trickier.
To be exact, everything gets set into motion in the second Sévère steps on Miss Mary’s room. Both found their fighting matches. Who shall be the winner? Who shall solve the mystery?
Who shall be the surviviour?
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
I was beyond excited when Annelie send me her new book. I already explained how her work was a key piece for me to pick up more books for reading in this post, so I’ll skip that part, haha! But seriously, she never seizes to stop impressing me. Even though I had some problems with this book – especially in the beginning, as it all sounded so confusing – but as soon as I got my mind together, I flew through it. Who did it? Why? Will it happen again?
I found myself lost in a very vivid and alive London in the 19th century, running along Sévère and Mary to find answers and see who would win their private social war. This was a first class mystery that made me grab my seat and have a very intense ride. I only took a star off because of the confusing beginning and because I was bothered by most of the sex scenes. I understand what Annelie did, animalizing things on purpose and I think it was necessary in many points, but I shivered a lot, haha! Four proud stars 🙂
The narrative style was third person with alternating points of view between several characters and that was what made me so confused in the beginning. You see, I have a very shitty memory and am particular awful with names. Sometimes, I finish books without being sure of the characters’ names, especially if they are first person narrated. However, in Keeper of Pleas’ case, it went beyond that. The mystery dominates the pages since the first line and we didn’t know whose point of view we were reading until the middle or end of it
I have to say that, after my brain was able to process the beginning and understand who were the protagonists (yes, you read it right, unfortunately), I dived head first in this 19th century London. Every corner hid more mystery and every answer raised even more questions. IT WAS SO COOL AND AWESOME!
Wendeberg writing style is impeccable. She makes everything so human, so real that I felt like being physically sucked to my iPad’s insides were starting to sound like a possibility. Several times I had to force my eyes out of the screen and take a deep breath, study my surroundings and make sure I was still on 21th century before resuming my read. Wendeberg truly wraps her reader into the story.
The plot was complex, intricate and I didn’t know who had done it until the last second, always second guessing every witness, every clue, every evidence. I JUST NEEDED TO KNOW WHO DID IT! And even after it was revealed, I didn’t know if I could trust if it was the real deal or not, haha! Seriously, I was a goner for Keeper of Pleas. The elements entwined won me over – London, 19th century, mystery, thriller, the macabre, the action, the romance. I’m pretty sure this simply wasn’t that perfect for me because Sévère was straight, haha!
Anyway, let’s talk a bit about characters now. Wendeberg’s construction was impeccable, I haven’t a word against her. Every character was remarkable in a subtle way, all so painfully human in their qualities and faults. The relationships were also built very well and she makes a point of expressing how it was all about the lust between Sévère and Mary at first and how they took their time building trust. To be honest, I still don’t know if they ever really loved each other and the end of the book doesn’t help matters, haha! Don’t worry, I wont’t spoil anything, but brace yourself for several bombs to fall off your head, haha!
Keeper of Pleas left me breathless, confused and in a severe (haha) need of a hug, so I think it’s safe to say that Wendeberg slayed it once again 🙂 If you enjoy good mystery, thrillers, intellectual wars and face-slapping ends, you need to stop everything and get yourself a copy of Keeper of Pleas *–*
Thanks so much for reading my review! Also, thanks again for the book, Annelie! I’m delighted to have read another book from you and Keeper of Pleas was SUCH A RIDE, haha! ❤
Do you guys like books that make you second guess everything all the time? 🙂
Good morning and congrats, you managed to reach the middle of the week once again and I am proud of you ❤ Our Manga of the Week this time is a very different title: Sade, from Senno Knife!
It consists of a one-shot edition of comics based upon erotic tales written by the Marquis de Sade, the Grimm Brothers and Pauline Réage. Its format is shoujo, manga for girls.
This is one of the most helpful blurbs of the history.
Why I think it’s a worth-reading manga: because it is different. This is a 18+ rated title because it contains sex and torture scenes, be warned, but the art is peculiar – not my usual type, but harmonic – and it’s not vulgar as you would expect from a manga with sex scenes. Also, the stories are manga adaptations from classic tales, so it’s a kind of high culture manga, if that makes sense lol Anyway, if you enjoy 19th century manga titles, adaptations from the classics and highly intriguing plots, read this one shot!
That’s it, thanks for reading 😀 Later we shall have a blitz and a book review, stay tuned!
Hi, there! Good morning 🙂 Today’s post was inspired on my friend Kim’s one, from The Spines Breaker. She decided to clean up her to-read list on Goodreads and I realized that it had been years since I had done the same. Thanks for the insight, Kim! If you have the time, stop by her blog, it’s awesome! ❤
I had to open my heart and mind to clean my TBR shelf, but I’ve reached some basic concepts to take books off. Here we go:
I don’t even know why I’ve add this to my TBR
You know when you come across a book and you think you were drunk when you thought it would be the perfect one for you? Yup, those cases. It’s not like I think that those titles aren’t good, they just aren’t my type, haha!
The book sounds wonderful, but I don’t see myself reading it
I simply don’t. I don’t even see myself buying those, haha!
Historical romances that I still love and want to read someday, but have too many at home to pursue new ones
I have over 400 historical romances at home, counting only the ones I haven’t read yet. So I think it is useless to keep adding historical romances to my TBR while I don’t read at least a portion of the ones I already own, right? 🙂
I still want to read and have this book, but the chances of finding it on my country are so small that I’m giving up for now
In Brazil, there are some kinds of books that you simply can’t find and, when you do, you have to trade them for a liver and two kidneys. Sometimes, add a lung to the sum. As I’m not going to have the chance of putting my hands on those books, I sadly gave up on them for the time being 😦
Have added to my TBR because of the cover
I need to grow up, haha! I found several books that I clearly have added for the cover… Oops!
Sequel from a book that I didn’t read yet
I thought that makes no sense to mark a whole series as to-read if I don’t even know if I will like it. So, I cleaned up some titles on this category, like Cruel Crown or A World Without Princes. Let me read the first books first 😉
Friend’s recommendations that I think that are not for me
I’m very enthusiastic and open to book recommendations, but I found some titles on my TBR that, despite some loved friends saying how they loved such books, I can’t bring myself to be interested enough to buy and read them… I’m an awful person.
After all this cleaning and analyzing – which took me only three hours yesterday evening – I could take off from my TBR shelf 226 books. GO, ME! (you may notice that I didn’t put all covers from the taken off books on this post. The ones that are here are just illustrating my points, haha!)
Again, thank you for the idea, Kim! Now I only have 733 books on my TBR list on Goodreads, lol. Btw, feel free to add me there 😀
That’s it, thanks for reading! Have you ever cleaned your TBR list??
Yes, you read it right! Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon have a new release in town! =O
Honestly, I’m loving their publication rhythm! *–* The new book is called Will and the Valentine Saint and it is thematic, from the same collection of Simon and the Christmas Spirit.
Will Andrews wishes to escape the craziness of his bohemian family and create some order in his life. Hiding his eccentric theater background and presenting false letters of recommendation, he interviews for a position at a legal aid society. The last thing he expects is to fall hard for his genteel employer, Hugh St. John.
When Hugh needs a secretary, one magnetic candidate draws him. Will Andrews shares his vision for the Society and is also the most attractive man he’s ever met. But Hugh has never even kissed a man and would never throw himself at an employee.
As the pair plans a Valentine charity dinner, they grow ever closer to surrendering to Cupid’s arrow. But when Will’s false credentials and true background are revealed, can Hugh forgive his lies and omissions? Can fragile romance blossom into true love after trust is broken?
I can’t even express my happiness! I’m in debt with these girls, as I still didn’t read the last book I’ve won from them. But I will buy this one asap and make a marathon! ❤
That’s it, thanks for reading!! You can find this book in the usual places:
Hi, there! It’s Saturday and I couldn’t be happier! Besides eating my uncle’s famous barbecue today, this means that I’m going home tomorrow! Yay ❤
Today’s tag I saw at my friend Kim’s blog, The Spines Breaker. She didn’t tag me, but I liked this tag a lot and decided to do anyway 😀
Phase 1 – Initial Attraction: A book that you bought because of the cover?
The Awakening (Darkest Powers #2), by Kelley Armstrong. The hardcover volume was 7 dollars when I found it and I couldn’t resist, haha! Only later at home, I saw it was the second volume of the series and had to buy the ebook for the first one, haha!
Phase 2 – First Impressions: A book that you got because of the summary?
Angel Time (The Songs of the Seraphim #1), by Anne Rice. I found it highly interesting 😀 Let’s see if it will meet my expectations, as my last book from Anne Rice was a huge fiasco.
Phase 3 – Sweet Talk: A book with great writing?
The Night World series, from L. J. Smith. Seriously, I love this woman’s writing style! You can check my reviews for books one, two and three 😀
Phase 4 – First Date: A first book of a series which made you want to pick up the rest of the series?
Cemetery Tours, from Jacqueline E. Smith! It was so good and the end had such a cliffhanger that I almost cried in relief because I already had all three published books with me, haha!
Phase 5 – Late Night Phone Calls: A book that kept you up all night?
My last one was Shearwater, from dear Derek Murphy ❤ Such a wonderful book!
Phase 6 – Always on my mind: A book you could not stop thinking about?
Fangirl, from Rainbow Rowell. Even now, it still fills my head, as I’m dying to read Carry On!
Phase 7 – Getting Physical: A book which you love the way it feels?
Widdershins, from Jordan L. Hawk. All the feels, all over the place, haha!
Phase 8 – Meeting the parents: A book which you would recommend to your family and friends?
Pride and Prejudice, from marvelous Jane Austen. So far, I convinced 4 people including my mom to read it, haha!
Phase 9 – Thinking about the future: A book or series you know you will re read many times in the future?
All In With The Duke, from my loved Ava March. I can’t breath without this book in my life, seriously.
That’s it! Thanks for reading 😀 If you find this tag as fun as I did, don’t hesitate on doing it! You can say that I tagged you 😉
Hello, a good Tuesday to you! I’m sorry I’m a little late in posting this, but my life is still a mess, haha!
Anyway, do you know how I always babble about doing a bookish boyfriends list because I have one in practically every single book I read? Well, this is going to be a thing this year, as I explained here 😀
And there is a new thing: after I had the time to go back home and have a routine again, I’ll prepare a post with a partial balance of my bookish boyfriends since I started the blog. All men that I can think of based on my 2015 reads will be there. Later on, I’ll prepare a page to leave the list there and will do a monthly post with the updates to you guys before including more names there 😀
This is it. I still don’t have a routine until next week, but this is becoming real right now! 😀
I’ll work on the page next week, but you can already take a quick look at the names of 2015! The links to all those reviews are on the Review Index 😀
In order of appearance in the blog, we have…
Darius Lindsay, from Grace Burrowes’ Darius
Graham Cowrie, from Bonnie Dee’s The Tutor
Halt, from John Flanagan’s Rangers Apprentice’s series
Vince Pagano, from Jax Garren’s Stripped with the Vampire
Cash, from Jax Garren’s Stripped with the Vampire
Nobley, from Shannon Hale’s Austenland
Max, from Ava March’s All In With The Duke
Tristan, from Ava March’s All In With The Duke
Dean Winchester, from Supernatural tv show and Bobby Singer’s Guide to Hunting
Sam Winchester, from Supernatural tv show and Bobby Singer’s Guide to Hunting
Hale, from John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series
Anthony Hawkins, from Ava March’s Viscount’s Wager
Nicholas, from Steve Spatucci’s Breach Point
Graham Cowrie, from Bonnie Dee’s The Tutor
Jake, from Linda Oaks’ Chasing Rainbows
Judah, from Lauren Bird Horowitz’s Shattered Blue
William, from Erin Knightley’s Vexed by a Viscount
Sigmund Shaw, from Mark C. King’s Sigmund Shaw: A Steampunk Adventure
Gabriel Holmes, from Mark C. King’s Sigmund Shaw: A Steampunk Adventure
Vincent Night, from Jordan L. Hawk’s Dangerous Spirits
Henry Strauss, from Jordan L. Hawk’s Dangerous Spirits
Bruce, from Lou Harper’s Secrets and High Spirits
Kile, from Kiera Cass’ The Heir
Vincent Prescott, from Ava March’s The Bound Series
Devon, from Linda Oaks’ Finding Forever
Vince Pagano, from Jax Garren’s Stripped with the Vampire
Cash, from Jax Garren’s Stripped with the Vampire
Edward Fenton, from Ava March’s Convincing the Secretary
Michael Sinclair, from Jacqueline E. Smith’s Cemetery Tours series
Luke Rainer, from Jacqueline E. Smith’s Cemetery Tours series
Alexi, from Anne Rice’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
James, from L. J. Smith’s Secret Vampire
Ash, from L. J. Smith’s Secret Vampire and Daughters of Darkness
Percival Endicott Whyborne, from Jordan L. Hawk’s Widdershins
Griffin Flaherty, from Jordan L. Hawk’s Widdershins
Eric, from L. J. Smith’s Spellbinder
Levi, from Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl
I think I’ll start a new religion where girls can have a thousand husbands, haha! The new blog page is coming soon, promise! 😀
That’s it, thanks for reading! Which are some of your bookish crushes?
Hello, there! Despite the awful beginning of the day with the news about Alan Rickman’s death (Rest In Peace, dear Alan!), life must continue and I’m happy to say that I took refuge in a wonderful book to sooth my sorrow. My dearest chosen was the first book in the Whyborne & Griffin series from the awesome Jordan L. Hawk, Widdershins.
Percival Endicott Whyborne wanted nothing more of life in general. A quiet and awkward academic, his work at the Ladysmith Museum and his studies of several dead languages (13 spoken, but he could read more) were enough to occupy his thoughts and his empty existence.
That is, until nosy and charming detective Griffin Flaherty invaded his life and dragged him into a very obscure and dangerous mystery. Now both men have to work aside each other to prevent humanity of collapsing in the hands of a very old secret society with a very lively founder.
The thing is that both Whyborne and Griffin will have to decide whether their heated relationship have more to meet the eye or will be over as soon as they finish up the case.
The Analysis
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
I have already read two books from Jordan, both in the Spirits series: Restless Spirits and Dangerous Spirits (review here!). So, I was prepared for a wonderful writing style and awesomely built characters.
But nothing prepared me for Whyborne and Griffin.
It all started with the narrative style: first person thought the eyes of Whyborne. If you follow the blog for a while, you know that this is not my preferred narrative style. I often find it to be lacking in the story and limiting. Not the case at all! The fact that we could only live the drama through Whyborne’s eyes made it all more interesting. We second-guessed Griffin’s amour intentions, saw the double face of the truth and watched as Whyborne had to develop to solve the case. But I’ll get there, haha!
The plot was amazing. It was simply brilliant and completely connected. I didn’t find any loose ends on the mystery os even the characters, for that matter. And this is a freaking book series, where any loose ends were forgivable! =O
Seriously, this book!
Ahem.
So, the characters. As I had stated previously on this post, I was sure I would love Whyborne and Griffin simply because I can’t imagine a world where I would not like a character built by Hawk. At first, I thought Whyborne too shy, to neurotic and afraid of breathing; don’t get me wrong, it’s an accurate description. I could never imagine his blossoming through the story, how his love for Griffin made him braver and confident. And the same goes to Griffin: he may have been at ease and chatty, but has his own ghosts, some of them far worse than Whyborne’s. He also faced many fears in behalf of his lover and, on this point, their kind of romance reminded me the ones that my goddess Ava March writes. The couple was lacking something before they found true love and their love makes them better people. Needless to say that, besides adding two more bookish boyfriends to that legendary list of mine, I also gave my heart to this series ❤
I also thought that I would prefer Griffin over Whyborne and I’m astonished that Whyborne managed to steal Griffin’s spotlight with me, haha! Oh, and I also can’t go through this review without mentioning Whyborne’s bff, Christine! She is a blast ❤ I identified with her in so many levels, I wish she’d appeared more… For you guys to get her essence, I’ll leave the explaining task to Ariana Grande:
This is Christine all over, haha!
And there is the ultimate villain. Jeez, I need to catch my breath, haha! How awesome is that his only flaws are being in a need of a fingernail cut and to want world domination? Honestly, I would have loved to see a sex scene between him and Whyborne, omg. Don’t get me wrong, I love Whyborne with Griffin and regret nothing that happened in this book, but a girl can dream, haha! I love sex scenes where desire and hate are mixed into pleasure (not rape, just the sheer need of having the body of a fellow that you could fire in the head to kill). I shan’t reveal the villain’s name for the sake of spoilers, but he is hot.
And, as I already hinted in the last paragraph, let’s now analyze sex scenes! The last books I had been reading lacked those, so I rather missed them, oops! Also, it has been a while since my last gay book, so I was double happy with Hawk’s work 😉 One thing I adored was that Whyborne and Griffin took it slow in bed. Whyborne was a virgin and remained that way even after their first sexual plays. It was lovely ❤ Griffin was the top in this book, but hinted that he’s the type that likes both ends of sex making, haha!
Ahem. I seem to be a little carried away today, I apologize.
Overall, this is a very good mystery book. Yes, there is romance, but it’s not its solemnly focus. I’d say this is a story about friendship in the first place and how relationships change over time. Not just in a romantic way 🙂
Well, that’s it! Thanks for reading ❤ Have you read Jordan L. Hawk’s books?
Hello, again! I know I am a little late to do this, but better late than never, haha! January is going to be insane for me, as my younger cousin is going to be here until Sunday and next week I may start a course – more info as my life goes, haha!
But I’m blabbering, let’s do this:
December Wrap Up
I’m very proud of my reading month! I’ve read 11 books!! =O I’m still wondering how I did it, so I can repeat the dose this month, haha!
Book of Opera, from Arthur Jacobs and Stanley Sadie
The Other Side of Midnight, from Sidney Sheldon
The Devil’s Advocate, from Morris West
Vixen 03, from Clive Cussler
The Name of the Rose, from Umberto Eco
Lie Down With Lions, Ken Follett
An illustrated guide to Dresden
Amar se Aprende Amando, from Carlos Drummond de Andrade
Antologia Poética, from Vinicius de Moraes
Antologia Poética, from Carlos Drummond de Andrade
Dona Flor e seus Dois Maridos, from Jorge Amado
Tieta do Agreste, from Jorge Amado
Tenda dos Milagres, from Jorge Amado
A Moreninha, from Joaquim Manuel de Macedo
I know, I know. So many books, haha! I can explain 🙂 14 of my won books were at my uncle’s place, waiting for death. Yeah. So I won a cattle with lots of books and selected the ones that seemed promising 🙂 I wish I could have saved all books that were there, but there were some destroyed ones by the time, others that I knew for being a bore and some that weren’t my thing at all… Anyway, at least I could save some of them, haha!
Freebies that I got this month
Anywhere But Here (The Starborn Ascension Book 1), from Jason D. Morrow
Beyond Secret Worlds: Ten Stories of Paranormal Fantasy and Romance
The Ducal Gift and The Christmas Carriage, from Grace Burrowes
Soar (The Empire Chronicles Book 1), from Alyssa Rose Ivy
Hidden (Dragonlands Book 1), from Megg Jensen
Aloha Texas (Aloha #1), from Chris Keniston
Binarius: Episode I (The Binarius Series Book 1), from Kendra McMahan
Globalização, Mídia e Ética, from Erasmo de Freitas Nuzzi and Clovis de Barros Filho
Hello, again! Guess who is back with yet another steaming-hot release? My favorite team, Bonnie and Summer :DD Their new baby, The Professor and the Smuggler, already is available for pre-order ❤
A grumpy smuggler meets a bumbling professor and treasure is found.
An explorer at heart, former university professor Phillip Singleton’s adventures have only taken place in his imagination—until recently. Exploring the Cornish coast to research a travel book, he encounters a living example of a pirate archetype. Dark-haired, black-bearded Carne Treleaven might have been hewn from the very rock his name describes, and Phillip is eager to discover more.
Carne has little patience for the awkward, dreamy professor, an outsider who must be steered away from local secrets. He agrees to serve as a guide to seaside caves where smugglers once operated only to keep Phillip away from more recent activity.
As personalities clash, secrets unfold, and riches are revealed, the two polar opposites find the point where their similarities lay. Carne’s old beliefs are shattered by his attraction to a man and he must decide if he’s willing to take a huge step outside his familiar life and into a brand new world.
I just need this book. Just now. DEAR SANTA, PLEASE GIVE IT TO ME, haha! ;D
The Professor and The Smuggler will be out only on January 02nd, but you can already pre-order it at Smashwords and Amazon!
That’s it, thanks for reading and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange 