Mini Romance Reviews

Reese’s Bride, Kat Martin

Reese Dewar left to fight for England with a promise from beautiful Elizabeth Clemens – that she would marry him when he returned.  But days after he left, Elizabeth married an earl, gaining wealth and status beyond anything she’d achieve with Reese.  Broken-hearted and determined to hate her, a wounded Reese returns to England, but finds his defenses alarmingly low when Elizabeth and her young son need his protection from her abusive in-laws.

I could probably complete this review with “meh”.  The book was enjoyable, but nothing particularly special.  Most of it felt like it had been done before, right down to the phrases the author used to describe various feelings.  I remembered Kat Martin as a better author than this – I often find that my experience with authors I enjoyed as a teen is disappointing as an adult.  This one was no exception.

Bound by Your Touch, Meredith Duran

When she gives a speech on her archaeologist father’s research, Lydia Boyce is dismayed to find that James Durham, Viscount Sanburne, takes all the attention away from her father’s important research.  She gets back at him by pointing out that the statue he’s brought is a fake – but as it turns out, Sanburne’s bust was in one of her father’s shipments.  Lydia determines to find the answer to this mystery herself, with no help from the eloquent and mischievous James, but she is drawn to him, surprised that he sees beneath the cold spinster to the woman who longs for love.

I wish I had written this review sooner to reading the book so I could do it the proper justice.  Suffice it to say that I loved it, that Meredith Duran is equally as skilled with two characters in ordinary England as she is with exotic ones, and that I think she only got better.  I sincerely adored the relationship between these two people.  They found each other’s flaws and not only did they learn to accept one another but they also learned that they had to compromise in order to stay with one another.  Both of their stories were wonderfully done.  The whole book was excellent and made me immediately want to pick up Written on Your Skin.

Written on Your Skin, Meredith Duran

On the surface, Mina Masters appears to have it all.  She can lay claim to beauty, charm, and wealth – but she’s not free.  Trapped by a hateful stepfather and a looming unwanted marriage, Mina finds herself drawing close to a handsome stranger.  But Phin Granville isn’t free, either, and has little interest in an empty-headed society girl.  When Mina saves his life, however, he finds himself bound to her until they rediscover one another four long years later.

While I didn’t like this one as much as The Duke of Shadows or Bound by Your Touch, Written on Your Skin was still a great romantic read.  Meredith Duran’s writing is, if anything, getting better, and I really look forward to what she’s able to write in the future.  I think great things are on the way.

I liked the reversal of character roles in this one; Mina is the tough, clever girl who fakes a lack of brains to fool people into thinking she’s defenseless.  I didn’t really appreciate that she had to fake stupidity, but I did like that she took on the role more traditionally assigned to men in romances.  Phin has been forced into espionage, but he’s really a mapmaker at heart and wants to discover the world.  I wouldn’t call him submissive, exactly, but he’s more so than Mina.

Archangel’s Kiss, Nalini Singh

This second book in the Guild Hunter series again focuses on Elena and Raphael.  Though her life has changed drastically, Elena is still a Guild Hunter.  She’ll face great danger in her new role but still fights to keep her friends safe.

I liked this and I thought it was good for the Read-a-Thon, but I thought there was too much sex – there was much more than in the first of the series.  It probably wouldn’t bother someone who liked more of it but I’m not really that person. I’ll probably keep reading anyway because I’m interested to see what happens!

I am an Amazon Associate. I purchased all of these books.