Nicole Hightower was devastated when her boyfriend left her for her older sister. Since she loved both of them, she wanted them to be happy. She just wished that their happiness hadn’t come at the cost of hers. Now, years later, a twist of fate has her acting as a surrogate for the couple. Except that a mix-up at the fertility clinic means she isn’t pregnant with her brother-in-law’s baby. Instead, she’s carrying the child of a man determined not to let a woman into his life.

Ryan Patrick was badly burned by his ex-wife and isn’t about to trust a woman with his heart again. So when his father makes it clear that Ryan needs to settle down if he wants to inherit the family architectural firm, he decides to hire a surrogate. The mix-up at the clinic throws his plans out of whack, but he’s determined to have a child and isn’t about to let anyone, namely Nicole Hightower, get between him and his baby. But when he’s unexpectedly attracted to the mother of his child, will he risk his heart again?

Nicole is awesome, though I think part of the reason I like her is less about her personality and more about the setting she’s in. Every now and then – okay, I’ll be honest, all the time – I come across heroines who frustrate me. A lot. Why? Because their “problems” could be easily solved if they just went to a lawyer, did some research online… acted like rational people. Instead of solving a problem the easy, logical, and realistic way, they end up agreeing to ridiculous proposals from powerful men. Now, I get that authors need a reason for their couple to be together often enough to fall in love, but the heroine’s response to being in a tough situation has to be realistic.

This is not a problem with Nicole. She’s in a very tough spot legally – and she knows it because she’s talked to her lawyer! That is what a smart woman does when in trouble – she seeks the help she needs from a professional. I was so impressed with Nicole for doing this, because even though it’s common sense to me, it often isn’t to romance heroines. Nicole is also kind, generous, and flawed just enough that I don’t have to hate her for being too perfect. Her only flaw is that I can’t understand why she’d fall for someone like Ryan Patrick. Or Patrick Ryan, her ex/brother-in-law, for that matter. She obviously has bad taste in men.

 My problem with this book lies with Ryan. Short explanation: ugh, what a jerk. Long explanation: ugh, arrg, grr, what a stupid excuse for a hero! Instead of bring heroic, he’s an idiot and a jerk!

So why do I dislike him so much? He’s too hard and too strong for too long. Romance readers – okay, I won’t generalize here, I - know that deep within every man who’s been emotionally wounded lies an adorable soft side. That’s what I fall in love with. I read about him acting like a jerk, but I also read about why he does it and get to see how deeply hurt he is. This is why I’m willing to forgive the outwardly jerky behaviour. But I never saw Ryan’s soft side. There were no puppy-dog eyes, just threats and anger. Okay, there was a bit of confusion over his attraction to Nicole, but he mastered it too well.

He’s so obsessed with getting sole custody of the baby that I want to injure him. Permanently. Badly enough that he won’t be able to look after this child. I’d have been able to forgive the obsession if he cared about the other people he was hurting, but he didn’t. He was too busy being frustrated by his overwhelming desire for Nicole to actually do anything other than hurt her feelings, and by the time he started caring about them I was already over him. He bulldozed, steamrolled, and bullied his way into her life and somehow, into her heart, but he didn’t deserve to be there. His grovel was too little and came too late, which made the unsatisfactory ending feel rushed.

With the exception of Ryan, More Than a Millionaire was pretty good. Nicole was great, her family was interesting, and I can’t wait to read more about Lauren next month. Hopefully she gets a hero worthy of her awesome self. But since Nicole didn’t, her story only gets a

C

I have a hard time giving up on books. For at least my first fifteen years as a reader, I simply couldn’t allow myself to start a book and not complete it, no matter how much I hated it. What if it got better? What if I suddenly realized that it wasn’t bad at all? Did I have the right to criticize a book I hadn’t finished? This last one still gets to me when I’m reading a book for review, not just for pleasure.

One of the things I love about technology is that it can help me keep track of books. All my friends and family know that I have next to no ability to memorize things like mathematical or scientific equations, but that if I’ve read a novel within the past five years, I can probably give you a summary of the plot, tell you the author’s weaknesses and strengths, and let you know whether I’ll continue reading their works or not. Freaky? Yes. Also, handy.

But I’ve found that this ability isn’t as strong with series novels, especially Presents books. So while it’s easy for me to remember that I don’t like a single-title author and to put their book down, regardless of how pretty the cover is, I’ve accidentally read series titles by authors I can’t stand and been incredibly mad at myself afterwards. That’s actually a large part of why I decided to make this blog: to keep track of what I’ve read and to remember which books to avoid.

So what does my freaky memory and its deficiencies in regards to Presents books have to do with this blog? Remember how in the second paragraph I talked about reviews? Since I’m using reviews to keep track of the series books I read, I’m afraid that I’ll fall back into my “but I have to finish it if I want to review it!” habit and make myself grumpy and irritable. Since I don’t particularly enjoy either of those sentiments, I’m writing my DNF policy here and promptly publishing the post so I can’t take it back later.

My DNF policy: if an author gets three ‘D’ or ‘F’ reviews in a row, their books are fair game for DNF-ing. If I’m not convinced that their latest work is completely different from the books of theirs which received bad reviews by the end of the first chapter, I’ll drop it. This only applies to Presents, Presents Extra, and Desire. I don’t have a three-strikes policy for longer books. If I don’t like the first book I read by a single-title/longer series author, I skip them altogether until someone whose opinion I trust tells me to give them a second chance.

Personally, I think this is fair. There are TONS of books in my TBR pile, and tons more I’d love to add to it. Every time I read a new release, it subtracts from the time I could be using to lessen that TBR pile. I’d like to be able to see the table it sits upon again one day, so this lack of time is a bad thing. I also think the three-strikes rule is fair because even my favourite authors have had books I didn’t like. If I don’t like three books in a row, however, I think it’s safe to say that I have a problem with the author’s overall style.

So there you have it: my DNF rule, carved in [web]stone, so that I can’t change my mind. Except by clicking the “edit” button… which I will not do, no matter how tempting! I promise!

One of the things I don’t love about October is that it means summer is officially gone for good. The weather’s cold and just going to get colder, which is not a good thing if you hate winter as much as I do. This year, I’ll be relying on Harlequin to heat things up with releases set in exotic, warm locales, and with powerful, sexy men.

If you’re anything like me, you head over to eharlequin.com on the first of every month to find out what’s coming your way next month. Here’s what I’m particularly looking forward to in October:

The Sheikh’s Forbidden Virgin by Kate Hewitt. I really disliked the last Calista-set book in this multi-author series, but I’m hoping that Ms. Hewitt will satisfy my craving for sexy sheikhs with her novel.

Italian Boss, Proud Miss Prim by Susan Stephens. The title makes me giggle. No, really, that’s why I want to read it.

Proud Revenge, Passionate Wedlock by Janette Kenny. I’ll either love this or hate it – I’m obviously hoping for the former – but either way, it sounds like an interesting story!

Bedding the Secret Heiress by Emilie Rose. This one looks like it’s going to have some great drama, which I love when it’s done right.

I also have a couple longer titles I’m looking forward to:

Her Cinderella Season by Deb Marlowe. I really loved Deb’s story in the Diamonds of Welbourne Manor anthology, so I’m hoping I like this full-length book just as much!

His Secret Agendaby Beth Andrews. I LOVE BETH ANDREWS. That is all.

And if you live in the UK, I’m so jealous of you for getting these titles before they come out in North America:

The Christmas Love-Child by Jennie Lucas. Jennie Lucas is one of my favourite Presents authors, and I can’t wait to get to read her next book. Sadly, I’m going to have to wait, since the North American version doesn’t come out until November.

Temporary Boss, Permanent Mistress by Kate Hardy. Kate Hardy is another of my favourite series authors, but I don’t get to read this one until January 2010. *sniff*

So what about you? What’s coming out in October that you’re looking forward to?

Meet Lana Walker. She’s head curator of the Sydney museum, and even her museum colleagues call her shy and geeky. Ouch. So when she wins a free two-week cruise, she decides to let loose and find her wild side! Sort of. In theory. Maybe less-than-tame would be more accurate? The point is, Lana’s trying to reform herself, even though it’s a lot harder than she thought it would be. And since an impulsive comment at dinner the first night, her flirting skills have been constantly put to the test thanks to the ship’s hunky public relations manager, Zac McCoy.

Zac isn’t actually a public relations manager. He’s really the newly-appointed CEO of the company, but he’s working undercover to discover a saboteur. He’s constantly thrust into Lana’s company, and what starts as an idle flirtation quickly turns into something far more serious. Will he let her capture his heart, or will his secret identity destroy everything?

There were things about this book that I loved. I loved that, though Zac was helping Lana to gain confidence, it felt like she was the one really causing the changes in herself. Yes, he did help, but she wasn’t doing it to impress him or because of him. She was doing it for herself, and I thought Ms. Marsh depicted this so well. I also loved how Zac was fully aware of the fact that he was in danger of falling in love with Lana, and that his previous marriage hadn’t made him a bitter woman-hater. He was able to admit the mistakes he’d made. And I love how even when the characters made incorrect assumptions about each other, they cleared them up very quickly instead of letting their problems snowball into Big Misunderstandings.

The problem was that for everything I liked about the book, there was also something I didn’t like. The whole “saboteur” angle felt way too shallow – it was mentioned to often, since it was the reason Zac was in disguise, but we never learned how he was investigating, just that he was making progress. I had a really hard time in connecting with the characters emotionally, and in believing that they were really in love with each other. For some reason, I felt like they never got to know each other deeply, even when they revealed the secrets of their past.

That being said, I know that this was the first book Ms. Marsh ever wrote, and for a debut novel, it’s quite well-written. I look forward to reading more of her works in the future and hope that I’ll be more drawn in by them emotionally. But because Two Weeks in the Magnate’s Bed didn’t quite succeed at achieving that emotional connection for me, I’m giving it a

C+

Daisy Dean – and oh, how that name pained me over the course of this novel – isn’t exactly fond of her new neighbour, and she’s been quite vocal about her dislike. He’s too good-looking, for one thing. But more importantly, her landlady’s cat is missing and he hasn’t helped search for it. Since the cat could very well be hiding in his backyard, the logical course of action is to look for it there. Okay, so that’s technically trespassing, but it doesn’t even look like the neighbour’s home. What could go wrong?

Something’s going wrong with Connor Brodie’s current business deal: the man he wants to work with has a rather flirtatious trophy wife, and has accused Connor of trying to seduce her. He’s sick. And now there’s an intruder in his yard. He third problem, at least, it easy to deal with – he apprehends the attractive redhead, but things get a bit confused when he practically collapses from fever.

Daisy nurses him throughout the night, and after the fever’s broken, the two give in to their mutual passion. Her overwhelming response to Connor frightens her, and she leaves, trying to think of their experience as a one-night stand. Connor wants more, and goes to her house to find her… only to learn that she’s been bad-mouthing him to everyone in the neighbourhood since he moved in. Furious, he blackmails her into posing as his fake fiancé in New York for two weeks. But will a mere two weeks be long enough to sate his desire for both her body and her mind?

The characters are the best part of this book. Connor admits to himself that the blackmail is less about the fact that he’s mad and more about the fact that he wants to be with Daisy. Instead of sulking over being blackmailed into going, Daisy realizes that the trip to New York could be a wonderful adventure and decides to have as much fun as she can while she’s there. The honesty they both tend to display makes them a lot of fun to read about, and eliminates the possibility of Big Misunderstandings. No Big Misunderstandings = happy Niveau.

Also – and I can’t explain more without using spoilers – I loved the way Daisy reacted to the first sexual encounter they had after she arrived in New York. Whenever I read a scene where the hero behaves that way, I feel the same way Daisy did. So the fact that she totally called Connor on it made my day, and the analysis of why Connor behaved that way made me willing to accept his apology. Good job, Ms. Rice.

Back to an earlier point, though: Daisy Dean. DAISY DEAN. Really? Okay, it was kind of cute the first time, but only the first time. After that it got annoying. Really, really annoying. Almost annoying enough to have me throwing the book at the wall. The name Daisy would be bad enough on its own, but combined with Dean… ugh. No. I don’t want to read about a character with that name. Connor Brody, on the other hand… now that’s a sexy name, that’s a character I want to read about. Yum.

Apart from that one horrible, horrible name, this was a really enjoyable book. The characters are refreshingly honest, the story’s a lot of fun, and I’m dying to read about Juno and Mac. I was happier at the end of the book than I was when I started it, and that’s really what reading romance is all about.

B+

Supermodel Kate Lancaster has wanted Tiarnan Quinn, her best friend’s brother, for more than ten years. The two have only shared one kiss, after which he cruelly rejected her, but she can’t stop thinking of what could have been.

Tiarnan’s never gotten over that kiss either, and when the opportunity to embark on an affair with Kate appears, he gladly takes advantage of it. He knows the affair will only be temporary, and it’s not like she could sneak under his defences, right? Riiiiight?

I don’t know how she does it, but Ms. Green somehow manages to make a short, series book feel like a single title one. The shorter word count doesn’t impair her ability to tell a compelling story with equally compelling characters.

One of the [many] things which often bothers me in Presents novels is that the heroines so consistently end up becoming stay-at-home moms. Okay, they’re a bit more glamorous than that, since they have staff and super-rich husbands and whatnot, but you know what I mean. While this is exactly what Kate wants for herself, I have no problem with it. Why? She’s experienced life. She’s had a wonderful career, she’s had lovers, and she’s decided that what she really wants is to be a mom. She’s not some virgin who goes straight from being young and naive into being the wife of a rich, controlling man. She makes all her decisions with a wealth of experience on her side, and with her eyes wide open. 

My favourite character in this book is probably Tiarnan’s daughter, Rosie. She could have simply been a device used to move the plot along and to show that Tiarnan did indeed have a softer side, but instead Ms. Green made her a realistic character. She’s cute, she’s interesting, and I really hope that one day, she gets her own novel. If she does, I hope her father makes an appearance, because he’s just about perfect. He’s what I look for in a Presents hero: attractive, rich, and oh-so perfect for his heroine. And he’s a great father, too! What more could a girl ask for?

Mistress to the Merciless Millionaire is exactly what a Presents novel should be. It’s sexy, fun, and emotionally touching. It features glamorous locations and the people who inhabit them. It features an alpha male, not an alpha jerk, one who works so hard to be strong but really just wants someone who’ll support him when he needs to be weak, and the heroine who can fill the gap in his heart. It’s one of the best Presents novels I’ve read in a long time, and I recommend it from the bottom of my heart.

A-

Anyway, Jennie Lucas is one of my favourite Presents authors, and this one gets bonus points for being hilariously over the top. Roark’s an ass, but he’s such an ass that he’s hilarious, the settings are all sexy, and the drama is fantastic. I know I’ll read this book again and love-hate every minute of it. The Innocent’s Dark Seduction is a really fun read – just don’t take it seriously.

B

One year ago, Linus Harrison forced Andrea “Andi” Buttonfield to become his PA, not realising how beautiful he’d find her. And Andi never thought she’d be interested in the man who forced her to quit her job and work for him. Yet, one year into their acquaintance, they’re both fighting an unwanted attraction. When a trip to Scotland puts them in close proximity, will they be able to fight it?

Yeah, that’s about all I’ve got for my summary. The plot is really, really simple. Which is okay, but the simpler the plot, the more the execution matters. And the execution is… well, it’s okay.

The only real problem I have with this book – apart from the really unrealistically old virgin heroine – is the use of exclamation marks. Remember reading Archie comics when you were a kid? Remember how every sentence that wasn’t a question ended in an exclamation mark? If you don’t, reading this book will remind you, because the author seemed to be following Archie grammar. In keeping with the overall feel of the book, I should’ve written the summary as:

One year ago, Linus Harrison forced Andrea “Andi” Buttonfield to become his PA, not realising how beautiful he’d find her! And Andi never thought she’d be interested in the man who forced her to quit her job and work for him! Yet, one year into their acquaintance, they’re both fighting an unwanted attraction! When a trip to Scotland puts them in close promixity, will they be able to fight it?

And while it’s not a true problem, the name Linus? Not sexy. Not sexy at all.

When I think about Presents books, I think of exotic, glamourous locations, rich alpha males, and lots of drama. So, let’s evaluate The Virgin Secretary’s Impossible Bosson those three items. Exotic, glamorous location: sort of. Kind of. Britain can be sexy, and so can Scotland, but not in this book. Rich alpha male: Linus is rich, yes, but it doesn’t play much of a role in this book. I guess he’s an alpha male, but… meh. He doesn’t feel like the kind who populate Presents novels. Lots of drama: they fight their attraction. That’s all.

So while there’s nothing really wrong with the book, I really didn’t enjoy it either. Based on the high meh factor, I give it a C.

C

Pinning down why I dislike them, though, is tricky. There are many things I didn’t like about Bound by the Marcolini Diamonds- starting with the fact that diamonds barely come into the story, though that’s Harlequin’s fault, not Ms. Milburne’s – but there’s nothing really wrong about it. I felt that the prose was a bit heavy, and the story wasn’t particularly original, but that hasn’t stopped me from liking other books like it.

Mario Marcolini and Sabrina Halliday have become co-guardians of Molly, their best friends’ baby. He’s a rich Italian playboy; she’s recently been falsely portrayed by the press as a greedy home-wrecker. Neither of their reputations makes them seem like they’d make good guardians, a fact which Molly’s grandparents plan to use to gain custody of the baby. To prevent that from happening, Mario and Sabrina decide to get married.

Mario doesn’t plan to stay married to Sabrina, though. He believes the rumours about her and plans to keep her only until she’s no longer useful. He doesn’t know that she’s innocent – innocent Presents-style, so in other words, she’s a virgin – and that she doesn’t hate him nearly as much as she wants to. And what he doesn’t know may just change everything.

Let’s talk about the characters - worldly, sneering Mario and sweet, innocent Sabrina. Here’s the thing about Mario: he’s a real bastard. I’m okay with alpha males, but I’m not okay with alpha jerks. Mario falls into the latter category. Here’s a choice example from right after Mario essentially forces Sabrina to agree to marry him:

‘Of course it will by necessity have to be a registry-office affair,’ Mario continued.
‘Too bad if I wanted a white wedding with all the trimmings,’ Sabrina put in, unable to refrain from sounding churlish.
His eyes glinted with derision. ‘A white wedding?’ he asked. ‘Would that not be rather hypocritical, given your sexual history?’

Most of the time I find Sabrina a tad too whiny and “Oh no, the children!” for my tastes, but I do like the way she handles Mario. After trying to protest her innocence – to no avail – she gives up and decides to act like the whore he thinks she is, and she every now and then she gains some strength from the role. Of course, she still ends up feeling horrible about the way he treats her and the way he views her. But I do love the way she responds to the comment I quoted above, and how at and earlier point in the book she calls him out on his double standards:

-She brought up her chin. ‘Most women regardless of their sexual experience dream of being a proper bride,’ she said. ‘It’s the one day in a girl’s life she can feel like a princess.’
-‘You think I’m a slut, don’t you? And yet the papers are full of your sexual exploits. Your double standards make me sick.’

That’s right, girl! The innocent virgin doesn’t have to defend herself to the arrogant playboy! Okay, I would’ve preferred something more cutting, but it’s better than pure spinelessness would’ve been.

But back to the fact that she gives up on protesting her innocence. I don’t know if the author did it on purpose or if it was a mistake, though I’m disinclined to think it was planned, but there’s an annoying inaccuracy that got under my skin while reading. At one point while told from Mario’s perspective, we read: “He thought back over each and every conversation they had had and couldn’t remember a single clue to suggest she was anything but the slut the press had made her out to be. If anything she had on one or two occasions actively encouraged him to believe the stories about her were true.” This just isn’t true. Sabrina often tells Mario that she’s not a whore, at least until she finally realizes that he’s not going to listen. But apparently none of the following statements made it through his thick skull:

-‘I think you’ve got the wrong idea about me—’
-‘I am no such thing. I was used as a scapegoat and no one would believe me.’
-‘I have met some creeps in my time, and up until now Howard Roebourne was at the top of that list.’
-‘I did not seduce him, or anyone.’
-‘I can assure you that all of your married friends will be quite safe from me.’
-‘You know nothing about me… You think you do, but you don’t.’
-‘I realise you are used to having whatever you want, but I am not for sale.’

Ultimately, I don’t think Mario really makes up for his actions. He doesn’t deserve Sabrina, and I can’t understand why she fell in love with him when he’d been nothing but cruel to her. Maybe the lack of good groveling is what made me dislike this book, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s just good. There’s nothing outstanding about this it – not the plot, certainly not the characters, and not the execution. I’ve forgiven other alpha jerk heroes because the author made the book fly, but Bound by the Marcolini Diamonds never even got off the ground.

C

The book suffers from a lack of depth in both its plot and, more markedly, in its characters. These two deficiencies made it impossible for me to connect emotionally with it, which made it hard to enjoy. While the writing was smooth and enjoyable, I’d rather read a shoddily-written book with depth than a polished but shallow one.

As far as Russell McClain is concerned, Alistair Power is the sole reason his father committed suicide. Sixteen years ago, he swore to take everything Power held dear, and he’s pursued that goal relentlessly. He’s finally ruined the man’s business and bought his home, but that isn’t enough. So when he meets and is attracted to Nicole Power, his enemy’s daughter, he decides he’ll have her, too.

Nicole is actually Alistair’s stepdaughter, and she isn’t very pleased with her stepfather or her mother at the moment. When she caught her fiancé cheating on her, her mother encouraged her to ignore it, and her stepfather criticized her for breaking the engagement off. The shock of realizing that the three most important people in her life weren’t who she thought they were prompted her to make some changes, and she’s spent the past few months changing from a pampered society girl into a better person. The only way a heroine can become a better person, of course, is to devote herself to either animals or, preferably, children. Nicole went all-out and chose Thai orphans, wowee!

So when she finds herself attracted to Russell, she decides to go for it. And that’s about it, really. Russell briefly struggles with the fact that she’s his enemy’s daughter, but he gets over it quickly enough.

The problem I have with this plot is that it’s boring. Hideously so. I felt like the author didn’t think the plot through beyond using Russell’s hatred of Alistair to get the hero and heroine together. And because the characters lacked depth, reading about them wasn’t interesting. [spoiler]Nicole’s reaction when she found out why Russell had been interested in her in the first place was such a waste of good dramatic potential. “Oh, you were only interested in me because you wanted to take away all that my stepfather held dear? No biggie! I know you love me anyway!” YEAH, RIGHT. That scene could have made the book actually interesting; instead it just reinforced my boredom. [/spoiler]

As I mentioned earlier, the writing was good. The fact that it was good enough to make me notice it despite my sheer boredom is what makes gives this book its grade.

D