Under the Covers: August 2012

Friday, 31 August 2012

August 2012 Monthly Wrap Up

Author of the Month: Lisa Kleypas

A big thank you goes out to John at St. Martin's Press and Lisa Kleypas for giving us the opportunity to spread our love for all things Kleypas this month! We were thrilled when we got the chance to interview one of our all-time fave authors! If you could like to check out that interview with Lisa, please check out this post.

Author Appearances:

Romance Rewind:

UTC hit the rewind button and took us back to Kleypas's historical time with a post on her Hathaways series! Check out this post to see why UTC loves this series!

Battle of the Covers: US vs. UK

Battle of the Covers is back! And this month we honored Lisa Kleypas's Friday Harbor series! Check out this post to see who won!

Mind Spill: Judge a Book By Its Cover

This month with mind spill, we got a little pissy. If you're an avid reader of erotica and have noticed some changes made to covers to look like another popular series, then you may share our frustration. Check out what we had to say about the Fifty Shades Cover Overhaul.

The Bloggy Awards

This month, we were nominated several times for The Bloggy Awards! THANK YOU SO MUCH! It was such a great surprise! Voting is still going on now so if you would like to vote for us, you can do that here.

Thursday, 30 August 2012

Romancing the Hop Blog Hop - Aug 31 - Sep 3

Welcome to the Romancing the Hop Blog Hop, hostd by Carrie Ann Ryan. This hop will run from August 31st - Sept 3rd and we are celebrating romance.

Our favorite part about reading a romance novel? Being transported to another world whether it's populated by fierce, domineering vampires and shifters or traveling back in time, just the same as if it's set in our day to day world. It's the magic of traveling to places and situations that don't normally exist in our lives. And well yeah, we like it hot when we are there.

Of course we thought what better way to celebrate romance than to give you a bit of everything?

We've put together a prize that has some Harlequin romance with spice. Harlequin's spicier books were one of the first introductions I had to reading anything erotic and the first real romances I read. We have three titles up for grabs.

Rub It In by Kira Sinclair - Island Nights (Harlequin Blaze)
Jump Start by Lisa Renee Jones - Texas Hotzone (Harlequin Blaze)
Her Little Secret, His Hidden Heir by Heidi Betts - Billionaires and Babies (Harlequin Desire). This one comes signed by the author and with SWAG

But because we couldn't leave the paranormal out and we couldn't decide on what to give, we are including 3 sampler books that have previews for the following books:

Dark Awakening by Kendra Leigh Castle
Lost by Caridad Piñeiro
Immortal Rider by Larissa Ione
Kiss of the Vampire by Cynthia Garner
Midnight Reckoning by Kendra Leigh Castle
Firelight by Kristen Callihan
Darkness Bound by Stella Cameron
Darkness Devours by Keri Arthur
Wicked Edge by Nina Bangs
Liquid Lies by Hanna Martine
Chaos Burning by Lauren Dane
Alpha Instinct by Katie Reus
Dire Needs by Stephanie Tyler
Eternal Kiss by Laura Wright
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
Nightfall by Ellen Connor
A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day
Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook
Avenger's Angel by Heather Kilough-Walden

AND we are also including SWAG from Donna Grant, Kallypso Masters, Beth Williamson, Emma Lang, Gena Showalter and Jambrea Jones.

ONE WINNER. INTERNATIONAL.

To enter our giveaway, be sure to be a follower of this blog and just leave a comment on this post telling us what's your favorite thing about reading romance. Be sure to leave your email address as well so we can contact you, otherwise we'll have to pick another winner if you're the lucky one.

By commenting on this post you will also be entering in the Grand Prize for this hop which consists of the following:

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Large Swag Pack

To increase your chances at winning the grand prizes, and to find more awesome giveaways in this hop of over 200 blogs, just follow the links below! HAPPY HOPPING!

Battle of the Covers: UK vs USA

Friday Harbor Series

by Lisa Kleypas

Our Lisa Kleypas month is coming to an end and we didn't want to finish the month without asking for your votes on the battle of the covers. This time around we'd like to know what you think of the Friday Harbor series. They are both beautiful covers, but which ones do you like best?

US UK

US UK

US UK

And The Winners Are...

Jo Carlisle giveaway

Leni K

Katie Porter giveaway
Timitra

Alma Katsu giveaway
Lacey T

Winners were chosen through Rafflecopter. Emails have been sent. You will have 72 hours to claim your prize (by just responding to the email you get from us).

Review: Player and the Prude by Daisy Harris

Player and the Prude

by Daisy Harris

(Men of Holsum College # 4)

Having come into this series right in the middle with book #3 I will say that this is my favorite of the series, but I'm not sure if that counts for much. PLAYER AND THE PRUDE is about Matt and Brooks. We (at least I) met them in book 3. Matt is Gabe's roommate, Gabe went on a couple of dates with Brooks.

So Brooks is the player because he's a bit of a manwhore, what with his rugged good looks, always dressed in the latest fashion and coming from a rich family. Matt is the complete opposite. He's geeky, really tall, maybe without the fashion sense gene. Brooks "best friend" challenges him to get with Matt and Brooks never backs down from a challenge.

I think what I loved the most about the connection between these two was the fact that Brooks was able to put down that mask he had to wear with others around him. He was just himself, enjoying what he enjoyed and not feeling bad about it. It was a process of discovery for both and not the "oh I'm gay" variety. Brooks realized that the life he was leading was probably not the one that would make him happy. Matt learned that after the oppression mentality that was ingrained in him and how he grew up, he had to let things go and enjoy life for what it was. Taking pleasure and also accepting the pain that goes along with it. They both had a great attitude to the changes that had to be made.

And of course I can't leave out that it was hot, right? Matt is a virgin but he has what he considers bad thoughts about Brooks. He wants to spank him, slap him, choke him, tie him down, rough him up. And after his internal battles he manages to do all that. The rough sex scene after he throws Brooks against the wall......'nuff said.

As usual, I guess my complain is the I love yous, and in this case the lets get married way too soon in a relationship. Although at least this book did seem to span a longer period of time than the previous book so I guess the relationship building was behind the pages, but I would've liked to see more of it to make the ending fit with the story for me.

*Review copy provided by author

Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: Heart of Gold by Jessica Bird

Heart of Gold

by Jessica Bird

There is a pretty big distinction in the writing when I read a Jessica Bird book as opposed to a J.R. Ward book. It also shows how much the author has grown into her own voice as a writer. With HEART OF GOLD, her second book ever published, I found the story to be a thrown together. Don't get me wrong, it was still cute but there was no originality and the conflicts were weird and felt like they were building up to something big that never came and the resolutions were just...too easy.

Nick Farrell is a sexy hero. Hot, young, rich and very much the brooding and grouchy type. Used to always getting his way and quite often rude to others. His sister died recently leaving him in charge of taking care of his teenage nephew. He's had archaeologists asking to dig on his mountain looking for gold for a long time and it's not until beautiful and young Carter Wessex asks him that he agrees. And that has everything to do with his attraction.

First the issue of Nick's nephew having a crush on Carter, then the reason why Carter hasn't talked to her father since her mother's death, then the fact that Nick is apparently in love with this woman without actually spending any time getting to know her just a few small conversations and well of course sex. There were just so many things that could've blown up into something more and given depth to the story but never did.

I thought the book was an enjoyable, light read. Although I have other authors that I enjoy more than this to read when I'm in this kind of mood, HEART OF GOLD was still sweet with a touch of sexy enough to like it.

Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: Seize the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Seize the Night

(Dark Hunters #7)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Valerius Magnus is the most hated Dark Hunter. He holds the fact that he is Roman very close to his heart, yet that is the very reason why most of the Dark Hunters hate him. Kyrian, Julian, Nick and even Otto, Valerius’ squire openly ostracizes Valerius because of his father’s actions. It seems that every good deed that Val commits, it is thrown back into his face. Kyrian especially has a reason to hate the ground that Valerius walks on, but Valerius is still a man of noble blood. He doesn’t let this extreme revulsion to him set him apart from the Dark Hunters or keep him from killing Daimons. I loved how misunderstood he was. I wondered how Kenyon would redeem such a character, but she does a stellar job of it.

Tabitha Devereaux, kickass vampire slayer and sex shop owner has her life in check. Everything seems to be going well for her until one mistake with a slip of her hand leaves one of the strongest Dark Hunters seriously injured. Talk about a big oopsie!

With the help of Nick, Tabitha gets Valerius to her home where she is able to care for him until he is better. But she needs to keep his presence a secret because if her sister found out that she was caring for and harboring her husband’s archenemy in her home, trouble will surely arise. As she cares for Valerius, she sees him at his most vulnerable and suddenly realizes that the face of an arrogant Roman he prances around with is simply a facade that hides a vulnerable and tortured man.

I loved - and I mean LOVED - Valerius and Tabitha together. The funny thing about them is that they don’t seem like they would mesh well together. Tabitha is feisty, a thrill to be around while Valerius is contained and a bit of a prude. But when they are together, it’s as if they were made for each other. Every moment is fun and romantic. I absolutely adored them together. I also loved the fact that Tabitha stands up to those who hate Valerius. You don’t often see this on romance. It’s usually the hero who is doing this, so it was refreshing to see a woman who is strong enough to stand up for her man.

Towards the end, Kenyon really plays with your emotions. Major events happen and it really made an already great book into a fantastic one! I got really sucked into the world that Kenyon has built and I don’t think there are any signs of me leaving.