Tag Archives: January 2015

Team ALBTALBS TBR Challenge Review: Once Upon a Rose by Laura Florand

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Once Upon a Rose by Laura Florand
Contemporary romance released by Laura Florand on January 26, 2015 

Once Upon a Rose by Laura Florand book coverShe stole his roses.

Fleeing the spotlight, burnt out rock star Layla—“Belle”—Dubois seeks refuge in the south of France. That old, half-forgotten heritage in a valley of roses seems like a good place to soothe a wounded heart. She certainly doesn’t expect the most dangerous threat to her heart to pounce on her as soon as she sets foot on the land.

He wants them back.

Matt didn’t mean to growl at her quite that loudly. But—his roses! She can’t have his roses. Even if she does have all those curls and green eyes and, and, and…what was he growling about again?

Or maybe he just wants her.

When an enemy invades his valley and threatens his home, heart, and livelihood, Matthieu Rosier really knows only one way to defend himself.

It might involve kissing.

I’ve been hoarding this book for a moment of true need. Or at least, that’s how I’m explaining why it took me this long to read this book, considering that it’s been in my virtual TBR pile for a very long time. It was, as with other Florand books, lush, funny, and richly layered both in terms of plot and characters. I guess you could loosely describe this as a beauty and the beast retelling, in so much as we have a really grumpy love interest who has a very soft heart–Matthieu, and a love interest who is beautiful, kind and curious–Layla. But because this is written by Florand, it is more than that. It is a musician who inherits a house in France, and steps into a family involved in the perfume industry who are collectively going through some growing pains. Continue reading →

What I’ve Been Reading: January Edition

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Hello hello helloooooooo lady! Ladies. I’m clawing my way out of a ~seven year reading slump, and I figured I’d do something new. At the end of each month I’m going to list what I’ve read in the prior month. (This will *knocks on wood* give me enough time to update Goodreads, which is something I’m determined to do this year. Cuz I swear I’m fucking re-reading books without knowing it >.<)

In no real particular order… these are the books I read in January 2015. (This isn’t an exhaustive list … because certain books it was so complicated even a simple listing would be too much trouble.) I’ve been on a total Entangled Brazen kick. Somebody stop me. I’m just going to list the title, author, and grade. If I said anything more, it’d be in GoodReads. Continue reading →

TBR Challenge Review: Rise by Karina Bliss

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​I really wanted to review a romance written by, or featuring African American character(s) for SBHM but … it just didn’t happen. I feel really guilty about that, but it just didn’t pan out.​ Alas. That being said … ​

Rise by Karina Bliss
Contemporary romance released by Karina Bliss on January 28, 2015

​ RiseRise – The redemption story of a rock star going straight(er) through the love of a good(ish) woman.

Acclaimed literary biographer Elizabeth Winston writes about long-dead heroes.
So bad-boy rock icon Zander Freedman couldn’t possibly tempt her to write his memoir.
Except the man is a mass of fascinating contradictions–manipulative, honest, gifted, charismatic and morally ambiguous.
In short, everything she seeks in a biography subject.
When in her life will she get another chance to work with a living legend? But saying yes to one temptation soon leads to another.
Suddenly she’s having heated fantasies about her subject, fantasies this blue-eyed devil is only too willing to stoke.
She thought self-control was in her DNA; after all, she grew up a minister’s daughter.
She thought wrong.

Rock star Zander Freedman has been an outlier–many would say an outcast–for most of his life.
But there’s no disaster he can’t overcome, from the breakup of his band to the inevitable damage to his reputation.
His Resurrection Tour is shaping up to be his greatest triumph–if his golden voice holds out.
Contracting a respected biographer is simply about creating more buzz. Elizabeth’s integrity is the key to consolidating his legacy as one of rock’s greats.
All the damn woman has to do is write down what he tells her. Not force him to think.
Or encourage the good guy struggling to get out.
And certainly not make him fall in love for the first time in his life.
Turns out he is scared of something: being known.

​I’d seen a lot of buzz for Rise, and most notably (to me) was Nalini Singh recommending it. She also touted Laura Florand and Sonali Dev, so I figured there was a good chance I’d enjoy it. I quickly figured out this was the connected book to What the Librarian Did (which I still need to read :X). Rise was more easily found in my digital library though, and who doesn’t like a rock star hero? Honestly a prevalent reflection was Rise is reminiscent of a Susan Elizabeth Phillips novel. SEP updated, we’ll say. Continue reading →