Highlander Most Wanted, Maya Banks (2013)

Book Source: NetGalley

This is the first time I've read a Maya Banks book.  I decided to give it a try as I've read and heard so many good things on her novels, so when I saw an available ARC at NetGalley, I eagerly requested it.

What can I say? Was it entertaining? Pretty much, at least the first half, after that it went downhill.

Synopsis:

Genevieve McInnis (great name!), the daughter of a powerful laird with connections to the crown, was kidnapped by the evil Ian McHugh a year before when she was on her way to her betrothed,  and forced to become his leman (whore).  She underwent all types of horrible physical and psychological abuse during the year she lived with him, but she manages to survive in one peace, except for the scar on her face.

The Last Daughter of Prussia, Marina Gottlieb Sarles (2013)

Source: Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I've been reading books on the Holocaust and the Jews since I was in 4th grade, it has always been a topic of extreme interest and horror, but always from the Jewish or Gypsy point of view, never from the German.  

Marina Goettlieb Sarles reminds us that although the German government committed atrocities during that point of time, they didn't necessarily have the backup of all their citizens, however they still dearly paid with their lives and that of their loved ones during the Russian invasion.

Synopsis: Manya von Falken is an East Prussian aristocrat, a twenty year old young woman whose family breeds the famous Trakhener horses.  They live in an idyllic setting in the middle of the Prussian forests, even though it is 1944 and the Russians are on the verge of destroying their home.

The Recruit, Monica McCarty (2012)

I read The Recruit back in November, in merely two days, it was so gripping!  But, I procrastinated and didn't write a review back then, which I'm determined to correct now since it got nominated for the RITA AWARDS only a couple of days ago! Yay!

Kenneth Sutherland became one of my favorite Highland Guards (after Tor McLeod, from The Chief) and Mary of Mar was a heroine I felt for and whose actions I identified with (at least most of the time).

Synopsis:
Kenneth was trying to earn a place with the Guards, but his quick temper and 'hot-headedness' was working against him, so he had to work double to prove himself capable of the post.  Mary of Mar was asked by the English king to spy on Robert the Bruce during the Highland Games. Mary of Mar doesn't really want to go, but her son's future inheritance is on the line, so she feels she has no choice.

RITA AWARDS FINALISTS, 2013... The Recruit, Monica McCarty and A Rogue By Any Other Name, Sarah MacLean

I'm super excited because two authors I follow and read (a lot) and love have been nominated for the Romance Writers of America Awards, aka, RITA Awards!  The winners will be announced July 20 at the Romance Writers of America, Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Historical Romance Finalists

Beauty and the Bounty Hunter by Lori Austin
Penguin Group USA, Signet
Claire Zion, editor

Bride by Mistake by Anne Gracie
Penguin Group USA, Berkley Sensation
Wendy McCurdy, editor

Defiant by Pamela Clare
Penguin Group USA, Berkley Sensation
Cindy Hwang, editor

A Lady Never Surrenders by Sabrina Jeffries
Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books
Micki Nuding, editor

The Recruit by Monica McCarty
Random House Group, Ballantine Books
Kate Collins, editor

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean
HarperCollins Publishers, Avon Books
Carrie Feron, editor

Too Dangerous to Desire by Cara Elliott
Grand Central Publishing, Forever
Lauren Plude, editor 

Wedded in Sin by Jade Lee
Penguin Group USA, Berkley Sensation
Kate Seaver, editor

I will definitely be posting my reviews on these two great novels in the next couple of days!  So, how many from the nominees have YOU read?

Goodreads Giveaway!

Sons of the Wolf, by Paula Lofting

Click on the link above to enter the book giveaway by this excellent author! Giveaway date is April 24, so you still have time!!

On bloody fields he fights for his life, but sometimes the enemy is closer to home... 1054, pious King Edward sits on the throne, spending his days hunting, sleeping and praying, leaving the security of his kingdom to his more capable brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, the powerful Earl of Wessex. Against this backdrop we meet Wulfhere, a Sussex thegn who, as the sun sets over the wild forest of Andredesweald, is returning home victoriously from a great battle in the north. Holding his lands directly from the King, his position demands loyalty to Edward himself, but Wulfhere is duty-bound to also serve Harold, a bond forged within Wulfhere's family heritage and borne of the ancient Teutonic ideology of honour and loyalty. Wulfhere is a man with the strength and courage of a bear, a warrior whose loyalty to his lord and king is unquestionable. He is also a man who holds his family dear and would do anything to protect them. So when Harold demands that he wed his daughter to the son of Helghi, his sworn enemy, Wulfhere has to find a way to save his daughter from a life of certain misery in the household of the cruel and resentful Helghi, without comprising his honour and loyalty to his lord, Harold. On the battlefield, Wulfhere fights for his life but elsewhere the enemy is closer to home, sinister and shadowy and far more dangerous than any war.

The India Fan, Victoria Holt (1988/2013)

Book Source: Net Galley

This was one of the last novels written by Eleanor Hibbert, better known as Victoria Holt, Jean Plaidy, and Philippa Carr.  This extraordinarily prolific writer, who according to this excellent page, jeanplaidy, wrote about 211 books in her lifetime under all her pseudonyms and sold more than 100 million books worldwide, including 23 bestsellers.  The India Fan was originally published in 1988, but it is now being reissued by Sourcebooks Casablanca, so kudos to them for bring back these wonderful stories!

So far, I've read only some of her books under the pseudonym Victoria Holt, including The Landower Legacy, which I have already reviewed, and others like: Mistress of Mellyn, On the Night of the Seventh Moon, Kirkland Revels, and The Mask of the Enchantress (many years ago), which I have yet to write reviews for.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but there is a similarity between Holt's style of writing and that of Madeleine Brent (Peter O'Donnell).  

• The heroines are always English girls who travel to foreign, exotic countries where they experience life changing events before returning to their native home.  
• They often have two or more possible lovers to choose from, including one that has a 'darker' and more dangerous personality, making the heroine doubt her feelings for him, and another who is just so nice that the heroine isn't interested.
• She also seems detached from many of the happenings that surround her, living in a dream-like state.
• They are often sensible girls, principally due to their difficult childhood and/or forced independence.  
• Oftentimes they are orphans.

Anyway, on to the story.

The India Fan was such a terrific and gripping tale that I couldn’t put down until I had finished it!  To be honest, it did start in a somewhat bland tone (as the usual VH), however as the story progressed, it became much more engrossing. 

The whole book revolves around beautiful peacock feathers, the Framling family, and India.