Tag Archives: 2019 books

Book Review: Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase

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Book: Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase

Published June 2012 by Avon|372 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: The Dressmakers #2

Genre: Adult Romance/Historical Romance

From the Journals of Sophia Noirot: A dress is a weapon. It must dazzle his eye, raise his temperature… and empty his purse.

A blue-eyed innocent on the outside and a shark on the inside, dressmaker Sophy Noirot could sell sand to Bedouins. Selling Maison Noirot’s beautiful designs to aristocratic ladies is a little harder, especially since a recent family scandal has made an enemy of one of society’s fashion leaders. Turning scandal to the shop’s advantage requires every iota of Sophy’s skills, leaving her little patience for a big, reckless rake like the Earl of Longmore. The gorgeous lummox can’t keep more than one idea in his head at a time, and his idea is taking off all of Sophy’s clothes.

But when Longmore’s sister, Noirot’s wealthiest, favorite customer, runs away, Sophy can’t let him bumble after her on his own. In hot pursuit with the one man who tempts her beyond reason, she finds desire has never slipped on so smoothly.

I liked this one!  I didn’t love it, and it’s not my favorite Loretta Chase book (or series), I still enjoyed it.

I really liked Sophie, and I liked her with Longmore.  I didn’t love them together, but I liked them as a couple a lot more than Clevedon and Marcelline.  I felt like he really wanted to help his sister and protect her, and Sophie seems to blend in everywhere she goes, so it’s the perfect way for her to help Longmore keep an eye on his sister.  Assuming she wants to be invisible, of course.

Like Silk Is For Seduction, I was more interested in the dress shop and the business Sophie and her sisters were trying to build.  Not to the same degree that I was with the previous book, since I liked this romance more than the previous one.  But I was still slightly more interested in the shop and the dresses than the romance.

I was pretty interested in what was going on with Clara- even though all of her issues brought Sophie and Longmore together, I was pretty interested in what was in store for her in the romance department.  I’m pretty sure the next book (whenever I read it) won’t focus on her, but hopefully we’ll see her and what”s going on with her, because she is one of my favorite characters in this series.

I didn’t love Sophie and Longmore together, and I’m not sure why.  Better them than Clevedon and Marcelline, but I still wasn’t into them as a couple.  This series (at least so far) has been more about the dresses than the romance.  At least, I’m more into that than the romance, which is why I picked up this series in the first place.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like Loretta Chase and I did enjoy Scandal Wears Satin, but maybe some of the descriptions of clothing could have gone towards making me fall in love with Sophie and Longmore.

3 stars.  I liked and enjoyed Scandal Wears Satin but I didn’t love it.  I liked it enough that I’ll pick up the next book at some point, because I am curious to see how things work out for the Noirot sisters.

Book Review: Silk Is For Seduction by Loretta Chase

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Book: Silk Is For Seduction by Loretta Chase

Published June 2011 by Avon|371 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: The Dressmakers #1

Genre: Adult Romance/Historical Romance

From the Design Book of Marcelline Noirot:
The allure of the perfect gown should be twofold:
ladies would die to wear it…and gentlemen would kill to remove it!

Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot is London’s rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon’s intended bride? Winning the future duchess’s patronage means prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are…not.

The prize seems well worth the risk—but this time Marcelline’s met her match. Clevedon can design a seduction as irresistible as her dresses; and what begins as a flicker of desire between two of the most passionately stubborn charmers in London soon ignites into a delicious inferno…and a blazing scandal.

And now both their futures hang by an exquisite thread of silk…

I liked this one!  I’m on a romance kick right now, and this seemed like a good one to read.  I really like Loretta Chase, and it was no surprise that I liked this one.

I really liked Marcelline but I don’t know that I liked her with Clevedon.  I felt like we saw a lot more of Marcelline than Clevedon, and I felt like this book was more about Marcelline and her up-and-coming dress shop than it was about the romance between her Clevedon.

I think part of why I didn’t like them together was the fact that there was someone he was intended to marry, and Marcelline did everything she could to get to him so she could dress this really important person.  I mean, it brought them together, of course, and there are all of these obstacles, but I just wasn’t a fan of them as a couple.  Clevedon was what I expected but…he’s not my favorite romance novel hero.

Not that I could pick a favorite, because I don’t think I could.  But he just didn’t do anything for me.  Just…even though he wasn’t actually engaged to someone he thought of as a sister…I don’t know, I just couldn’t get behind them knowing he was supposed to eventually get married to someone and ignored that in favor of his own needs.  It just made it hard to care and root for them.

I did want Marcelline to be a really successful shop owner and dressmaker, and I did find myself rooting for her to actually make it.  I wanted her to be able to take care of her sisters and daughter, and she’s well on her way to doing that, I think.  We’ll see, though, because this is only the first in a series.  I’m curious to see how things turn out for them, and even though I know the following books won’t focus on them, I’m sure both Marcelline and Clevedon will make an appearance.

3 stars.  I liked it, and Marcelline is a great character.  I just wasn’t a fan of the romance in this one.

Audio Book Review: Days Of Blood And Starlight by Laini Taylor, Narrated by Khristine Hvam

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Book: Days Of Blood And Starlight by Laini Taylor, Narrated by Khristine Hvam

Published November 2012 by Hachette Audio|Length: 15 hours, 21 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Daughter Of Smoke And Bone #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she’ll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was declared a “must read” by Entertainment Weekly, was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, and The New York Times called it “a breath-catching romantic fantasy.”

I liked this one!  This is one of those series I keep meaning to finish, and I never seem to get around to it.

For this one, I switched to the audio book because I tried reading it a couple of times but never got very far.  I really like the narrator (Khristine Hvam is one of my favorites), and I figured I’d give the audio book a try.  I thought Hvam did a great job narrating, and she was great at bringing Karou to life.  I’m pretty sure I would not have gotten through the book this time if it weren’t for the audio book.

I really liked the world, and how much this book added to it.  We only got a glimpse of Karou’s world in the first book, and we got a lot more of it in this one.  We see more of the war between the seraphim and the chimera, and we get more of the conflict between the two.  It had this huge mpact on Karou’s life, and she lost her family because of it.

I understand Karou better (and why she might ally with Thiago, and not want Akiva around) but she wasn’t the same Karou we see in the first book.  I get why, with everything that happened, but I think I was expecting the same Karou we see before.  It will be interesting to see how Karou changes in the next book.

I really wish I liked this book more.  I’m not sure why I couldn’t get into it, and it makes me a little sad because I really do like the world and the characters.  Maybe it’s just not my thing, which is fine…I just wish it were, since I know how much people love Taylor.

3 stars.  I liked it, especially the world that Taylor created and the narration.  I wish I had more to say about Days Of Blood And Starlight but I don’t.  I’m curious to see how it all comes together and to see how it ends.

Book Review: Ten by Gretchen McNeil

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Book: Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Published September 2012 by Balzer + Bray

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Horror/Thriller

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie are looking forward to two days of boys, booze, and fun-filled luxury. But what starts out as fun turns twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. And things only get worse from there.

With a storm raging outside, the teens are cut off from the outside world . . . so when a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one, there’s no escape. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

In an effort to read some of the books that have been on my virtual TBR for ages, I decided to pick up Ten by Gretchen McNeil.  It’s a cool idea but it ended up being just okay for me.

Part of why it was okay was that I had a hard time telling Meg and Minnie apart, especially at the beginning.  For some reason, it seemed like the story switched back and forth between, and I felt like I needed to write who was who and who dated who just to tell everyone apart.  It’s not how I want to start off a book, and it was more confusing than it needed to be.

The ominous movie they watch kind of reminded me of that one horror movie where you watch it and then you die some time period after.  I can’t remember the name of it, and I know I can google it, but I just don’t feel like it right now.  I don’t watch a lot of horror movies, but I vaguely remember that one, and I was initially reminded of that one movie.  Then it turned into a murder mystery, and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would.  There is this very mysterious, creepy vibe the entire book, but what actually happened wasn’t particularly scary or thrilling.

The idea is pretty cool, though I wasn’t particularly surprised by anything that happened.  A pretty deserted island, a storm, someone out for revenge…it was a story I was pretty familiar with even though I haven’t read this book.  I might have liked it more had I read it years ago.  I’m pretty sure teenage me would have liked it.  Or maybe YA horror isn’t really my thing.  I feel like I try to read YA horror and mysteries and thrillers and then I never really like it.  More often than not I don’t, but you don’t know until you read it, right?

2 stars.  Ten was okay, and I’m clearly not the audience for this book.  I thought it was pretty predictable but I did like the idea of getting people to an island for revenge.