I’m pleased to have been able to read an advance copy of this novel, due to be released May 26, 2009. Jennifer Haymore will also be featured on this blog next Monday in an interview about her fantastic NY debut.
Sophie’s husband is wounded at the battle of Waterloo and his body is never found. After eight years of heartbreak and fruitless searching, Garrett is declared dead and Sophie finally starts to rebuild her life with Tristan. She finds love again, remarries and starts to heal — and then Garrett returns.
One woman, two husbands. And Sophie truly loves them both. How can you not want to read every word to find out how this dilemma can be resolved? This is the sort of emotionally charged scenario that only masters such as Julia Quinn and Lavyrle Spencer dare to attempt, yet Jennifer Haymore takes this on in her New York debut.
None of this would work if you didn’t believe in the emotions and Ms. Haymore handles them beautifully. You yearn for what Sophie and Tristan and Garrett have lost, you’ll cry for them. This is not an easy emotional journey and at times, you may wonder how this can all work out. When Sophie says, “I want them both”, it’s not out of selfishness, but out of a deep connection with Garrett, the first love of her youth as well as with Tristan, the new love she’s discovered after the years of pain and loss.
I loved this book for how fearless A Hint of Wicked is in delving deep into the difficult decisions people have to make. Then, on top of that, it’s wonderfully plotted, fits in perfectly with its time period and creates such a sensual and intimate mood that I had to give a deep sigh when it was all over.
I have often wondered a book generates a buzz prior to its release. In this case, the attention is well deserved. I’d read the follow up novel, A Touch of Scandal, today if someone were to put it in my greedy little hands.
Friends for much longer than they’ve been lovers, Taryn and Richard enjoy each other’s company while looking for “Mr. Right”. When they meet Caleb the attraction is instant and mutual–for all three.
Caleb wines and dines them then shows them how good it can be if they trust him to lead the way. One night is all it takes to prove that the three of them are a perfect match, at least in the bedroom.
Taryn has to decide if explosive sex and the feelings that are quickly overtaking her are worth the risk of losing it all–she knows only too well that you can’t count on fate to always go your way. Richard sees Caleb and Taryn as the perfect couple but isn’t so sure there will always be room for him. Caleb has to suppress his urge to tie them both to the bed until they understand that they belong with him, but if they don’t come around soon, he’ll be pulling those ropes out after all.
Marra’s body burned with desire. It was Wild time, the first week of spring, when Lynx from all over North America gathered in the Sierra Nevada foothills to mate. The time when every Lynx female went into heat.
But Wild is bittersweet for Marra. She’s past the age when most Lynx find their mate. She only comes to Wild for sex and always leaves as she came: alone.
Yet this year is different. A new male Lynx has come to Wild, a foreigner who will claim her in ways she only imagined…
Debra Henry is a librarian on a crusade to renovate the town library. As a secret descendent of Morgaine Le Fay, she has a deep-seated love for knowledge and its preservation. She’s all set to present her proposal at the town meeting where she meets gorgeous wildlife expert, Maddox Moreau. He’s there to assure everyone that the dark beast sighted in the swamp is definitely not a wolf. There are no wolves in South Carolina.
But he didn’t say anything about werewolves. Minor technicality. And there’s two kinds — the one that tries to attack Debra, demanding that she reveal her secrets, and the one that lunges out from nowhere to save her. Suddenly it’s not an injured wolf she’s cradling in her arms. It’s Maddox…a very naked and unconscious Maddox.
From the opening scene among the buzzing mosquitoes, “Carolina Wolf” promises to be a humorous romantic romp in a charming Southern setting. Sela Carsen has a wicked way with words and each clever turn of a phrase keeps you on your toes as she creates two likeable and pleasantly familiar characters. Debra is your quintessential vixen in librarian’s glasses ready to let down her hair. Maddox is your rugged outdoorsman, a Molotov cocktail of pheromones and masculinity.
But then you discover there’s much more to the story. Debra is a witch. Maddox is a werewolf. The slimy mayor who keeps on pestering Debra for a date is scheming to steal her power for his own nefarious purposes. Carolina Wolf doesn’t stop there. This is no surface homage to the supernatural. The story evolves in layer after layer, building an in-depth folklore of its own that mixes Arthurian legend and Wiccan mythology with refreshing new elements.
Debra and Maddox take us from moments of claw-biting danger, to primal attraction, to mesmerizing magical lore. All the while, they’re not forgetting to laugh. And you can’t help but laugh with them. The love scenes had me breathing hard with excitement, then, with a clever twist, the story would catch me off guard and I found myself giggling out loud. Yet the comedy never pulled me away from the story. It enhanced the growing intimacy between Debra and Maddox and reminded me of those achingly “real” moments in a relationship when your guard is completely down.
“Carolina Wolf” brings it all home; giving a taste of peril and the euphoria of a great romance. A deliciously fun read on so many levels.
Frozen for decades on an abandoned asteroid, Katya Ortaega thaws and collapses at the feet of the most deliciously sinful man she has ever seen… she thinks.
Katya’s problem is her memory—she hasn’t got one. Her mind is blank. And now she’s stuck on a drilling platform with James Kinsare, a man who has her skin tingling and sometimes not in a good way. James is not who he appears to be and she can’t trust him … even as she finds him far too attractive.
All too soon, her past rears in the form of a man intent on killing both of them and now they have to work together to stay alive. However, Katya’s memories begin to resurface. And James Kinsare, the man who’s kept her alive against all the odds, the man who’s thawing her frozen heart, might prove to be the biggest threat of all.
Hannah Falcon loves her job cataloging medieval artifacts and setting up the displays at the Natural History Museum in New York. What she doesn’t love is her father’s steadfast refusal to let her go on any of his archeological digs, or her friends insisting she date more. When a man dressed as a medieval knight shows up in the museum, Hannah mistakes him for her friend’s latest attempt at a blind date.
Sent into the future:
Sir Gavin of Rogueforth is a battle-hardened twelfth century knight, having seen and caused his share of death in the crusades. He expects nothing more from life than to live and die by his sword. After Gavin rescues a woman and her daughter from a band of highway thieves, she sends him through time to protect another Hannah, claim her as his own and fulfill his destiny. He doesn’t expect a woman who refuses to be protected.
Timeless passion:
Can a man in chain maille convince a twenty-first century woman to follow her heart? Can a modern day woman show a medieval knight there’s more to life than being a protector? When two people from two different times explore Manhattan during the holiday season will time be an obstacle or will they find the magic to span centuries under the mistletoe?
“One is fun, two is company, three is not always a crowd, but four is more, and more, and more! The idea for Gamble’s Game came to me one day while I ate my lunch in a local grocery store. Inspired by my surroundings, I saw erotic potential in a stereotypically sterile environment (excluding the produce aisle, of course). ” ~Tara ~
Sensuality Rating: SCORCHING
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance with elements of Ménage a Trois M/F/M and Ménage a Quatre M/F/M/F
Length: 33,814 Words
A notorious player, Desiree Jones resists all attempts to trap her in a relationship. According to her, it’s what made her parents miserable, and therefore, it is what would make her miserable.
Once a lover of Desiree’s, Andrew Gamble doesn’t agree and it is his hope to be the one who makes her see reason. Smitten from the first kiss, Gamble has not touched another woman since, so a bet to go without sounds more like an opportunity to seduce her to him.
Desiree’s other competition is Joshua Tully, perpetually single and harmless, until the temptation of two week’s wages are up for grabs. After that, it is open season, and the three of them do what ever it takes to push their pals over the sexual finish line. A parade of firemen visit Desiree’s cash counter, a pretendsbian tryst is performed for Gamble, and a date is arranged for Tully.
