Day / January 15, 2011

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Heaven Can’t Wait by Pamela Clare

Format: E-bookheavencantwait
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: I-Team, Book 1.5
Publisher: Penguin Group
Hero: William Fraser
Heroine: Melisande Charteris
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: March 2, 2010
Started On: January 15, 2011
Finished On: January 15, 2011

I first came across this title whilst searching through the list of published novels by Ms. Clare after I finished racing through the novels in the I-Team series at breakneck speed. Though by the time I had finished Naked Edge on October last year this title had already been released in Kindle format as a standalone from the Catch of the Day anthology this title was previously released in, I didn’t find out the fact until December last year. Thank God for the fact that someone thought of releasing this as a standalone because otherwise I would have forgone reading this delectable and delicious and entertaining novella by Ms. Clare.

Heaven Can’t Wait is a story that takes place between the 1st book in the I-Team series Extreme Exposure and the 2nd book in the series. For the world of me I can’t remember running into Lissy and Will in Extreme Exposure maybe because Reece Sheridan seemed to steal every vital thinking cell in my brain with his forceful personality in the story. Regardless of whether you have read the I-Team series or not, you can still pick this novella and read it as a standalone.

32 year old William Fraser (Will) is the sports columnist at Denver Independent and a football commentator as well. Raised by a single mother, Will had never known his father. At school Will had excelled at both academics and sports which had earned him a full scholarship to the University of Colorado. Will had been on his way to building a lucrative professional career in football when his knee had been shattered ending his dreams of making it big in the world of football. Graduating with a degree in history only to find out that his mother was dying of lung cancer, Will had been left alone when he had had to say goodbye to his mother a year after he had said goodbye to professional football. Devastatingly handsome with gorgeous blue eyes, Will has had his fair share of women and had almost given up hope of finding someone meaningful to share his life with when things hit it off with Lissy.

Melisande Charteris (Lissy) is the only daughter of wealthy attorney and his trophy wife John and Christa Charteris. Their cold and loveless marriage had worked its charm over Lissy who has a strained relationship with her mother who tries to impose her bitterness about men, marriage and love on her daughter. The fashion editor at Denver Independent, Lissy had at first taken an instant dislike towards Will when they had first been introduced when Will had joined the staff of the paper as the new celebrity sports columnist. Thinking Will to be just another brainless jock with ridiculous good looks, Lissy had turned her nose at him only to have her whole perspective of Will do a 180 degree turnabout when Will helps her after she injures herself whilst out running.

This story kicks off right in the middle of one very hot lovemaking session between Will and Lissy who are to tie the knot in 2 weeks time. The scorching hot chemistry between Will and Lissy burns right through the pages even from the first encounter itself and it is because of Lissy’s mother Christa’s meddling that Lissy starts doubting what she has with Will. As a result, Lissy proposes a bet between them that they go through the next two weeks without sex in the pretense of making their wedding night more meaningful and romantic. Not one to turn down from a challenge, Will accepts the bet and all bets are off when these two engage in a battle of sexual wills to seduce one another and see who is the first to break and admit defeat which makes this novella a highly enjoyable one.

I liked:

  1. Will Fraser. Simply put, I wouldn’t mind having him convince me that going without sex with him is just plain wrong. Sinfully delicious is what he is. ^_^
  2. Lissy. She is the type of heroine you root for right from the very beginning. With her insecurities that come into play during the story which she overcomes with determination towards the end, I loved her teasing nature, the way she loves Will and is willing to admit when she has wronged him. She is the best kind of heroine.
  3. The incredibly sexy Scrabble game that took place! I will never look at a Scrabble board the same way ever again! ^_^
  4. I loved how Ms. Clare put so much into such a short novel that made this one as meaningful as her longer novels. That takes a lot of talent which Ms. Clare has definitely got in spades.
  5. Loved revisiting the I-Team once again! Always a plus point.
  6. Enjoyed the conversations that took place between Will and his buddies. Several laugh-out-loud moments there.

I disliked: None

Recommended for: Fans of Pamela Clare and fans of short and hot contemporary romances.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Billy Bob Walker Got Married by Lisa G. Brown

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: HarperPrism
Hero: William Robert Walker
Heroine: Shiloh Pennington
Sensuality: 2.9
Date of Publication: April 28, 1993
Started On: January 4, 2011
Finished On: January 14, 2011

My first Lisa G. Brown was picked up because of the various recommendations of the title on the Amazon romance discussion forum. This title kept cropping up on various threads on the forum which led me to obtain a copy of this title, which I had a real hard time getting shipped to Maldives since its out-of-print now. It might be because I had such high expectations because of the rave reviews this story has received that I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I thought that I would. However that doesn’t mean that this is a bad read by any means but rather it didn’t live up to all my high expectations which I believe tends to happen to us readers now and again.

27 year old William Robert Walker aka Billy Bob Walker comes from the wrong side of the town of Sweetwater. The illegitimate son of the honorable Judge Robert Sewell who has ignored his very existence by forgetting his affair with the innocent country girl Ellen Walker, Billy’s mother, Billy has a chip a mile wild on his shoulders that lands him in spots of trouble now and then. With a reputation for being wild, no one really sees the ambitious heart that beats within Billy and his aspirations to become someone who would one day show his good for nothing father that the son he had ignored for all his life in favor of his legitimate son Michael could make something out of himself. 6 ft 3 inches tall, long-limbed and lanky with broad square shoulders, Billy sets many a heart aflutter with his easy charm and masculinity. Billy’s passion lies in becoming a veterinarian but life and its ultimate choices had inevitably ended him a little further away from attaining his dream.

22 year old Shiloh Pennington is the cossetted and protected daughter of Sam Pennington, the banker of the town of Sweetwater. A man who had risen from a low wage job at a tiny mill to become what he is today, Sam wants nothing but the best for his only daughter whom he had raised single-handedly ever since Shiloh’s mother Caroline had walked out on them when Shiloh had just been 5 years old. A woman known for her beauty and loose morales when it comes to men, Sam had always kept a tight leash on Shiloh wanting to protect her from every evil in the world and tries his damnedest to shape Shiloh to follow his dreams and ambitions for her rather than her own. Shiloh is a woman trapped in a world created for her by her father and she tries her hardest to please Sam in every way possible until she breaks off her engagement to Michael Sewell, an act that infuriates Sam to no end.

The overly protected Shiloh who had always stayed away from men had her world turned upside down the summer she had turned 18, when she had run into Billy Bob Walker when he had been sent by his grandfather to landscape Pennington’s yard. Their affair had started out innocently enough and had been brought to a cruel halt by Sam who had presumed to know that Billy Bob Walker wasn’t what his Shiloh deserved or needed in life. Now 4 years later, these two cross paths again when Billy who is in jail serving time for riling up his father in court finds himself in the company of Shiloh who is brought in for totaling her car by speeding, trying in reality to get away from the stifling presence of the Sewells who her father tries to force her to accept. And when Shiloh sees her way out of getting married to Michael and getting back at Sam for trying to force her affections on a man who frightens her to no end by proposing marriage to Billy in exchange for his freedom from jail, a shaky relationship of sorts develops between two people who are wary of trusting the other as past hurts and Shiloh’s father tries his best to drive these two apart.

I liked:

1- The premise of this story. I found myself intrigued with the concept of the heroine offering money to the hero to marry her just for convenience’s sake. And with such vast differences in their upbringings there was bound to be a lot of problems which Ms. Brown tackled with throughout the story.

2- The vivid descriptions of the small town life that brought this book to life and gave it an added lustre. It is always heartening to see a story bring to life what goes on in small towns such as the one in this story.

3- As I read through this story, I was at first really frustrated with Shiloh’s character as she kept swaying back and forth between her feelings for Billy, which always pisses me off when it comes to heroines. But in the end, Shiloh proves that she loves Billy for who he is and does some growing up of her own and stands up for herself in front of her controlling father which earned her my approval in the end.

I disliked:

1- The way Shiloh couldn’t make up her mind till around more than half way through the book. It kept my head spinning in circles whilst Shiloh tried to divide her loyalties between the father who had raised her with love although Sam controls her life and she lets it happen; and her husband whom she has a hard time accepting at first.

2- Billy’s doggone pride that kept interfering with what was taking place between Shiloh and himself. As feelings continued to intensify between the two, Billy has a hard time accepting the fact that Shiloh’s upbringing had provided her with the best of things in life which Billy is unable to provide her with. Sam’s interference certainly didn’t help matters but I wished at times I could slap Billy on the face to make him sit up and see what he was doing to their relationship with his beloved pride to keep him company by his side.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Abe Books