ARC Review: Vlad All Over by Beth Orsoff

Vlad All Over

Author: Beth Orsoff

Publication: Amazon Publishing (November 20, 2012)

Description: Gwen Andersen loves being a schoolteacher, but she isn’t exactly raking in the big bucks. With her bank account shrinking by the minute, she needs a well-paying summer job if she’s going to hold onto the childhood home she inherited from her parents. So when the father of one of her students asks her to fill in as his au pair for the summer, she knows she should be thrilled. Alexander Romanescu is loaded, and Gwen adores his daughter Isabella. Plus, they’re planning to spend the vacation at their ancestral estate—in Romania!

And yet Gwen can’t shake the nagging feeling that saying yes to this man could lead to more than she bargained for. She knows so little about him—and the idea of spending six weeks in the land of Dracula and Vlad the Impaler is more than a little creepy. But the legends of Romania will be the least of her concerns if she doesn’t make some money…fast. And so Gwen says yes: yes to the job, yes to a European excursion…and yes to a summer that will change her path forever.

With her trademark crackling dialogue, exotic locations, and knack for realistic characters, women’s fiction author Beth Orsoff delivers an engrossing tale of love, intrigue, and betrayal. This is not your typical chick lit tale. This is something new. This is gothic chick lit.

My Thoughts: This story was an interesting kind of romance that definitely took a turn for the realistic. There isn't a traditional "happily ever after" at the end of the story. Gwen Andersen is a school teacher. When the father of one of her students asks her to act as his daughter's nanny for a summer in Romania, she reluctantly agrees. It doesn't take long before she falls for him and they begin an affair.

The whole romance things blows up when she learns that he had ulterior motives for asking her to go to Romania and, she thinks, for having a romance with him. Apparently a birthmark on her arm has convinced him that she is an heir to Vlad Tepes. For him that means that she stands to inherit some land in Romania that has gold beneath it. For her it means that he has lied to her from the start of their relationship and that she is the descendant of a mass murderer and torturer. She find the lying unforgivable; he wants to her to accept his apology and continue the relationship.

Things would have stayed at that impasse for ever except that the one time they had unprotected sex was enough to leave her pregnant. Now she is having the baby of a man she doesn't trust. They have to forge a relationship - if only to have him stop suing her every time she turns around.

I liked the relationship between the two of them but I could easily see why they would have trouble forging a lasting relationship. Gwen is not very trusting and really likes to be alone. Alex is domineering and likes getting his own way. While I think he loves Gwen, I can really understand why she doesn't want to be railroaded into a relationship with him.

I enjoyed this story and liked the teaser for the next book in the series that was at the end of this story. I will be eager to read it to find out what happens next for Gwen and Alex.

Favorite Quote:

When his hand slid down to my breast, I finally spoke. "You're not Isabella's father."

"I'm not?" My eyes were still closed, but I could hear the incredulity in his voice.

"No, because if you were we wouldn't be doing this. It would be wrong for me to sleep with my boss, and wrong for you to sleep with your daughter's nanny."

"Are you sure?" he asked, the incredulity replace by amusement. "I thought seducing the babysitter was a common fantasy."

I chose this ARC as one of my recent Amazon Vine books. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Vlad All Over by Beth Orsoff

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

This week I am spotlight Vlad All Over by Beth Orsoff. I received this ARC for review from Amazon Vine. Here is the description:

Gwen Andersen loves being a schoolteacher, but she isn’t exactly raking in the big bucks. With her bank account shrinking by the minute, she needs a well-paying summer job if she’s going to hold onto the childhood home she inherited from her parents. So when the father of one of her students asks her to fill in as his au pair for the summer, she knows she should be thrilled. Alexander Romanescu is loaded, and Gwen adores his daughter Isabella. Plus, they’re planning to spend the vacation at their ancestral estate—in Romania!

And yet Gwen can’t shake the nagging feeling that saying yes to this man could lead to more than she bargained for. She knows so little about him—and the idea of spending six weeks in the land of Dracula and Vlad the Impaler is more than a little creepy. But the legends of Romania will be the least of her concerns if she doesn’t make some money…fast. And so Gwen says yes: yes to the job, yes to a European excursion…and yes to a summer that will change her path forever.

With her trademark crackling dialogue, exotic locations, and knack for realistic characters, women’s fiction author Beth Orsoff delivers an engrossing tale of love, intrigue, and betrayal. This is not your typical chick lit tale. This is something new. This is gothic chick lit.

While I normally avoid chick lit, I chose this one because I have been a school teacher for many years and nothing exciting has ever happened to me.

Beginning:

"You're not wearing that, are you?" Zoe asked as I opened my front door. 

Friday 56:

"Aspirin?" she asked.

"Already packed."

"I meant where are they? All this repacking is giving me a headache."

ARC Review: Dangerous Waters by Toni Anderson

Dangerous Waters Author: Toni Anderson Publication: Montlake Romance (November 20, 2012)
Description: Known as the Graveyard of the Pacific, Barkley Sound is notorious for surging swells with the power to pull helpless victims into its merciless abyss…

Sergeant Holly Rudd arrives in the coastal community of Bamfield after local divers discover a body with a knife jutting from its chest in the waters of Barkley Sound. As she investigates the crime, Holly soon realizes the sleepy town is rife with secrets. But what unsettles her most is the residents’ insistence that she bears a striking resemblance to the victim of a murder from three decades earlier. She shrugs off the uncanny likeness as a coincidence. But her simmering attraction to Finn Carver, one of the divers who discovered the corpse, isn’t so easy to ignore.

Finn, a former Special Forces soldier, knows it’s best to keep his distance from Holly. Yet it isn’t long before they both give in to the consuming desire they share. And as the danger escalates, Finn and Holly must rely on each other to thwart the plans of a cold-blooded killer who’s intent on keeping the past buried.

My Thoughts: This was a romantic suspense title that nicely balanced both the romance and the suspense. The story starts with a murder of a 24-year-old woman and her six week old son. Her two year old daughter disappeared at the same time. Than thirty years pass.
The woman's husband is Dr. Thom Edgefield. He has never let the unsolved case rest. He has devoted his life to harassing the police to keep working on the murder. Along the way he has reported any suspicious behavior to the police which has not endeared him to the criminals who want to use the small isolated town as a base for smuggling and distributing counterfeit money.  It is a town filled with secrets.
When the body of a local low-life is found stabbed to death in an unknown shipwreck, the police are called in again. Thom and his foster son Finn Carver discover the body. Sergeant Holly Rudd of the RCMP is the investigating officer who is called in. Thom takes one look at her and faints. She is the image of his dead wife.
Holly quickly gets involved in trying to sort out the secrets of the town and, although she is incredibly drawn to Finn, she is determined not to get involved with someone who could be a suspect in the crime she is investigating. She already made the mistake of sleeping with a fellow officer (who is now her superior in this case) without knowing that he was married. She is afraid another indiscretion will ruin her police career.
Adding to the cast of characters is Finn's brother Brent who has recently got out of prison for killing their father. He did it to protect Finn who was being beaten by the man. But Brent spent twenty years in prison and is determined to keep Finn out of his life. He has become a bitter recluse who lives in a very expensive home although no one knows where his money comes from.
Honestly, the story isn't as complicated as I might be making it seem. It was a well-crafted mystery filled with interesting characters. The romance was well-done as both Finn and Holly fight their attraction to each other. Finn doesn't feel that he has much to offer Holly. But love overcomes all sorts of obstacles.
Fans of romantic suspense will really enjoy this story. I immediately went to Amazon and bought three more of her romantic suspense titles for my Kindle.
Favorite Quote:

Her eyes flared, and for a moment he saw the same hunger that ate at him, burning away her resolve. Then she looked away, clenching her fists. "You and I can never happen..."
"I don't want it to happen either, but I'm damned if I can stop thinking about getting you naked." He pressed his lips tight together to prevent himself from revealing more. He turned his back on her and stared at the seemingly endless ocean.
He felt her behind him. Her hand tentative on his arm. Forehead heavy against his back. "Sleeping with you would destroy my career." There was a long pause until finally she whispered, "But I can't stop thinking about it either."

I received this ARC from the Amazon Vine Program. You can buy your copy here.

WoW: Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This is where we can post our links and see what books others are waiting for. It spotlights upcoming releases.

J. D. Robb is another on my list of auto-buy authors. Calculated in Death which is the 36th book in the In Death series will be published on Feb. 26, 2013. Here is the description:

On Manhattan's Upper East Side a woman lies dead at the bottom of the stairs, stripped of all her valuables. Most cops might call it a mugging gone wrong, but Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows better.

A well-off accountant and a beloved wife and mother, Marta Dickenson doesn’t seem the type to be on anyone's hit list. But when Eve and her partner, Peabody, find blood inside the building, the lieutenant knows Marta's murder was the work of a killer who's trained, but not professional or smart enough to remove all the evidence.

But when someone steals the files out of Marta's office, Eve must immerse herself in her billionaire husband Roarke's world of big business to figure out who's cruel and callous enough to hire a hit on an innocent woman. And as the killer's violent streak begins to escalate, Eve knows she has to draw him out, even if it means using herself as bait. . . .

Teaser Tuesday: Dangerous Waters by Toni Anderson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week my teaser comes from Dangerous Waters by Toni Anderson. I got this suspense title through the Amazon Vine Program. Here is the description:

Known as the Graveyard of the Pacific, Barkley Sound is notorious for surging swells with the power to pull helpless victims into its merciless abyss…

Sergeant Holly Rudd arrives in the coastal community of Bamfield after local divers discover a body with a knife jutting from its chest in the waters of Barkley Sound. As she investigates the crime, Holly soon realizes the sleepy town is rife with secrets. But what unsettles her most is the residents’ insistence that she bears a striking resemblance to the victim of a murder from three decades earlier. She shrugs off the uncanny likeness as a coincidence. But her simmering attraction to Finn Carver, one of the divers who discovered the corpse, isn’t so easy to ignore.

Finn, a former Special Forces soldier, knows it’s best to keep his distance from Holly. Yet it isn’t long before they both give in to the consuming desire they share. And as the danger escalates, Finn and Holly must rely on each other to thwart the plans of a cold-blooded killer who’s intent on keeping the past buried.

Teaser:

Bianca Edgefield's body was rotting beneath rich prairie grass, but the woman who strode to the police 4x4 parked on the side of the road was her doppelganger. The gossips had been right, and a shot of unholy fear stabbed through muscle to bone.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (Nov. 13, 2012)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Here is what I read:

Dead Girl Moon by Charlie Price was a young adult mystery that suffered by having an unlikable main character but was redeemed by having very likable secondary characters. It was a better character study than a mystery though. My review is here.

Archangel's Storm by Nalini Singh was the latest in her Guild Hunters series and featured the romance between Jason, who is Archangel Raphael's spymaster, and Mahiya, who is the niece of Archangel Neha. The story had a strong romance and advanced the story arc of the series. My review is here.

I also finished Will Sparrow's Road by Karen Cushman. I got this middle grade historical fiction novel from Amazon Vine and enjoyed the story. My review will be posted on Nov. 15.

I am currently reading Dangerous Waters by Toni Anderson. This is a romantic suspense title that I also received from Amazon Vine.

Here is what is on the review stack for the rest of November.

Mystic City by Theo Lawrence is a YA from Amazon Vine which was released on Oct. 9

Miss Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman is a YA from Macmillan which will be released on Nov. 13.

Vlad All Over by Beth Orsoff is an adult Amazon Vine book which will be released on Nov. 20.

Kept by Shawntelle Madison is a NetGalley book which will be released on Nov. 27.

The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse was a YA sent to my by the author for review. It was released on July 10.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst is another YA sent to me by the author. It was released on Sept. 11.

Running Wild by Linda Howard and Linda Jones is an adult book I got at NetGalley. It will be released on Nov. 27.

Federation: The First 150 Years by David A. Goodman will be a coffee table book complete with lighted stand. (I got a PDF of the content.) It is scheduled for a Dec. 4 release.

I finished up my cleaning out and sorting this week. I just have to make two more trips - one to the Salvation Army with clothes I can't wear and one more to the public library to drop off books for the Friend's next book sale - and I will be mostly finished.

I also discovered way too many stuffed animals but plan to give those away to my students. I think I will be running lots of contests with my young readers until they are all gone.

How was your week? What do have planned for this coming one?

Stacking the Shelves (Nov. 11, 2012)

Tynga of Tynga's Reviews has a meme to spotlight the books we receive each week. Visit her site to check out the linky and see what everyone gets. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow.

This week I added three books to my TBR mountain and bought all of them. Here they are:

I got Rescue My Heart by Jill Shalvis which is the third book in her Animal Magnetism series. I liked the first two books in this contemporary romance series. I think the combination of hot men and cute pets works when I want a feel-good story.

She never wants a hero… 

After a tragic stint in the National Guards, Adam Connelly returns to Idaho and to Belle Haven, the animal shelter he owns with his brothers. All Adam wants is to be alone. Then he opens the door to the past—the woman whose heart he once broke. Still gorgeous, still tough-as-nails, but this time, unusually vulnerable.

Holly learned the hard way to never depend on a man for anything. Now, of all men, Adam is the last one she wants to see, and the only one she needs. Her father has gone missing in the Bitterroot Mountains and she could use someone with tracking skills to help find him.

For Holly and Adam, each with their ghosts, a trek this desperate, this unpredictable, and this intimate, will have its share of risks—including opening their hearts one more time.

I also got The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts which is the third and final book in her InnBoonsBoro Trilogy. I have been waiting for Hope and Ryder's romance since the first book.

Ryder is the hardest Montgomery brother to figure out—with a tough-as-nails outside and possibly nothing too soft underneath. He’s surly and unsociable, but when he straps on a tool belt, no woman can resist his sexy swagger. Except apparently Hope Beaumont, the innkeeper of his own Inn BoonsBoro…

As the former manager of a D.C. hotel, Hope is used to excitement and glamour, but that doesn’t mean she can’t appreciate the joys of small-town living. She’s where she wants to be—except for in her love life. Her only interaction with the opposite sex has been sparring with the infuriating Ryder, who always seems to get under her skin. Still, no one can deny the electricity that crackles between them…a spark that ignited with a New Year’s Eve kiss.

While the Inn is running smoothly, thanks to Hope’s experience and unerring instincts, her big-city past is about to make an unwelcome—and embarrassing—appearance. Seeing Hope vulnerable stirs up Ryder’s emotions and makes him realize that while Hope may not be perfect, she just might be perfect for him…

And, last, I got Dick Francis's Bloodline by Felix Francis. I always used to eagerly anticipate Dick Francis's annual mystery. After he passed away, I was devastated. But now his son Felix is continuing in the tradition of mysteries about ordinary men thrown into extraordinary situations which always somehow revolve around horse racing.

When race caller and television presenter Mark Shillingford calls a race in which his twin sister, Clare, an accomplished and successful jockey, comes in second when she could have won, he believes the worst: that she lost on purpose, and the race was fixed. That night, Mark confronts Clare with his suspicions, she storms off after an argument—and it’s the last time Mark sees her alive. Hours later, Clare jumps to her death from the balcony of a London hotel . . . or so it seems.

Devastated and guilty over her death, Mark goes in search of answers. What had led Clare to take her own life? Or was it not suicide at all?

What did you add to your stack this week?