June 2022 Book of the Month Giveaway
July 26, 2022 12:42 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
During June, I read four full-length books, one novelette, and two children’s books. While none of them rated below four stars and several were excellent reads, only one romance received five stars from me to be featured here. It’s by a long-time favorite author and the second in one of her older series that I’m just now getting around to reading. Jasper is a member of an army regiment that fought in the French and Indian War. They were allegedly betrayed by one of their own members, leading to an Indian ambush. Jasper and several of his fellow soldier were captured and tortured by the Indians with some of them dying while in captivity. He’s now continuing the investigative work started by the hero of the first book, trying to ferret out the turncoat. However, the story opens with him being jilted at the alter by his fiancee, the second time he’s been thrown over in less than a year. As he’s trying to process this turn of events while nursing a hangover, he’s approached by a woman he vaguely knows who proposes that he marry her instead. Knowing that he genuinely wants to wed and produce heirs and having no desire to go through the courting process all over again, he figures, sure why not? Little does he know, though, that Melisande made her bold proposal because she’s been in love with him from afar for six years and sees this as her last chance to possibly snag the man of her dreams since he barely seems to know that she exists. She’s thrilled when he accepts, but she has no intention of letting her feelings for him be known. Melisande herself was cruelly jilted many years ago, and after surviving the pain of that lost love, she has no desire to make herself that vulnerable again. However, she’s determined to seduce her new husband so that the notorious ladies’ man doesn’t stray from her bed. Jasper harbors some secrets of his own from his time in the military that he doesn’t want his genteel wife to know, so it takes time and patience for each of them to open up. In the meantime, they burn up the sheets together and soon Jasper is as crazy about Melisande as she is about him. But when Jasper’s investigation hits an unexpected nerve with someone close to them, it may put them both in mortal danger.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Elizabeth Hoyt
October 2017 Book of the Month Giveaway
November 17, 2017 03:46 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
October was a near-perfect reading month for me. All but one of the five books and one novella I read last month rated five stars for me, which is virtually unheard of. I don’t know if I’ve ever come that close to having a clean sweep month before. While it was great for my reader morale, it, of course, made it rather difficult to decide which book to highlight as my Book of the Month. I finally settled on a book that is the final full-length story in a long-running historical romance series that I’ve loved from the start. In fact, I’m a little sad to see the series winding down after such a long run, but it’s been a great one. Not to mention, although there are a couple more novellas forthcoming, this book was a wonderful wrap-up to the main part of the series, sending it out on a high note, so I can’t really complain.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Elizabeth Hoyt
December 2016 Book of the Month & Giveaway
January 16, 2017 01:08 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
Between the busyness of the holiday season and the mad last-month dash to get my newest book ready for publication, I fell behind on my blogging. In order to catch up, that means that I’ll be bringing you two Book of the Month giveaways this month, one for November and one for December.
My favorite read for December was the eleventh book in the popular historical romance series, Maiden Lane. Again, if you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know just how much I love this series and the author. I’ve given away some of her books before. I just can’t seem to get enough of her writing and even had the privilege of meeting her in person and taking a wonderful writer’s workshop with her a few years ago. I feel like a broken record every time I review her new releases, because each one seems to entrance me as much as the others. This latest book features a relatively new hero, who was just introduced in the previous book, and a heroine who’s been around for most of the series in a supporting role. Their story is one filled with action, adventure, a touch of mystery, and some heart-stopping romance that didn’t fail to keep me engaged throughout.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Elizabeth Hoyt
June 2016 Book of the Month & Giveaway
August 5, 2016 07:03 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
My favorite book from my June reading was, once again, the latest book in one of my all-time favorite series. This time, though, it’s a masterfully written historical romance that’s filled with complex characters, especially the hero, as well as dastardly villains of whom the hero can sometimes be one. Because of this, I wasn’t certain if I could come to fall for him in the way I want to every time I read a romance, so I went into the story with a little trepidation about whether he might do nasty things I couldn’t stomach, along with a healthy dose of skepticism as to whether he could be convincingly redeemed. Even though I’m now keenly aware that not all readers agree with me, I, personally, was very pleased with how everything turned out and that I did indeed fall for the hero despite his villainous actions. That for me is the mark of a very, very good author.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Elizabeth Hoyt
June 2015 Book of the Month & Giveaway
July 17, 2015 11:44 AM Posted by juliannadouglas
Once again, five-star reads eluded me in May, so I'm skipping ahead to my June reading. My favorite book I read that month is a historical romance set in the Georgian era. It's the eighth and latest book in Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series. Our heroine, Phoebe, has been there almost since the beginning of the series, when she was just a teenager whose eyesight was failing. Now she's a grown woman and fully blind but struggling to maintain her independence while dealing with an older brother who wants to wrap her in cotton wool. The only way he'll let her out of the house is with a bodyguard escorting her everywhere. Phoebe initially resents the man's intrusion but the more time she spends in his company, the more she becomes accustomed to having him in her life and can scarely imagine him not being a part of it. Her bodyguard and hero is James Trevellion, the former Dragoon captain, who has also been a part of the series for quite some time. He's loved Phoebe from afar almost since he started working for her brother, but thinking himself too old for her and too far beneath her in social station, he keeps his feelings to himself. When multiple kidnapping attempts are made against Phoebe, it becomes quite clear that someone is out to do her harm. James will do whatever it takes to keep her safe, which means taking her far away to someplace where the ne'er-do-wells would never think to look for her, his old family home in Cornwall. On their long journey there, they pretend to be husband and wife, placing them in very close quarters and making it impossible for James to ignore his love for Phoebe any longer.
Categories: Book of the Month
Tags: Elizabeth Hoyt
