Review Copy Arrival: To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt

To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: November 1, 2009
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 384

I received this from this book from Anna Balasi from Hachette for a book tour date in November.

About the Book:

NOTHING IS MORE INTOXICATING-
Reynaud St. Aubyn has spent the last seven years in hellish captivity. Now half mad with fever he bursts into his ancestral home and demands his due. Can this wild-looking man truly be the last earl's heir, thought murdered by Indians years ago?


OR DANGEROUS-
Beatrice Corning, the niece of the present earl, is a proper English miss. But she has a secret: No real man has ever excited her more than the handsome youth in the portrait in her uncle's home. Suddenly, that very man is here, in the flesh-and luring her into his bed.


THAN SURRENDERING TO A DEVIL.
Only Beatrice can see past Reynaud's savagery to the noble man inside. For his part, Reynaud is drawn to this lovely lady, even as he is suspicious of her loyalty to her uncle. But can Beatrice's love tame a man who will stop at nothing to regain his title-even if it means sacrificing her innocence?

Musing Mondays - Oct 26

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about note taking…

Do you take notes while reading – either for your reviews or for yourself? How/where do you make these notes (on the page, post-its, scrap paper, notebooks etc)?

I sometimes take notes, mainly about the characters and if anything important happens that I want to make note of in my review. I also will write down quotes from time-to-time but often forget to use them in my review.

I use cute notebooks that I pick up here and there (mainly the dollar store and Dollar General). They are usually colorful and different and I tend to have several of them going at one time because I want to start using a new one.

To link up and see other people's answers for this week's Musing Monday head over to Just One More Page.

Review: Love You To Death by Shannon K. Butcher

Love You to Death by Shannon K. Butcher


My rating: 5.0/5.0

Wow - can I just say that I thought this book was amazing. A wonderfully great romantic suspense and it delivers on both genres romance and suspense quite well.


Elise is a independent world-traveling reporter. No, she doesn't make a lot of money but she enjoys what she does. She doesn't have attachments now except for her flighty sister, Ashley. When Elise hasn't heard from Ashely in several days she gets worried. Worried enough to have Elise rushing to her sister's home from half-way across the world. Elise shows up there in the middle of the night and proceeds to break in to check on her sister, only shortly after she breaks in, a strong and powerful male overpowers her.

That strong male is Trent, an ex-cop who has a lot of baggage and is currently by Elise's sister's description "the hot lawn guy". Elise has to agree, Trent is hot but he doesn't seem to want to help her track down Ashley, he wants her to rely on the police. Elise needs to do this herself since it seems the police aren't interested. Finally it's too much for Trent, and his cop background takes over, but as Elise gets closer to the truth, it seems she's in more danger and Trent is in danger of falling for Elise.

Wow - the sexual tension in this one is amazing. I like the interplay between Elise and Trent as they got to know each other. The romance builds wonderfully and I can easily see and believe how they fall for each other. It's a steamy read. Add in some great suspense. You know from the beginning who the killer/kidnapper is, but there are several threads that take the whole book to unwind and the end is still very surprising. The killer is very creepy and he gives me the willies just thinking about him, but that makes him an excellent bad guy character.

Well-plotted and executed, this is a wonderful book for romantic suspense lovers out there. I actually hope there will be another book to follow this as I am interested in what happens between two of the characters at the end.

Challenges:
100+ Book Challenge
Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009

What Are You Reading Monday - October 26

Come post weekly and see what others are reading too just so you can add to your tbr - I always do! For more information see J.Kaye's Book Blog and join in!

Books Completed Last Week:

• See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays from the World's Most Hilarious Blogging Moms by Beth Feldman (review)
• Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly (review - book tour)
• Dingos Before Dinnertime (audiobook with DS)
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (library)
• Love You To Death by Shannon Butcher (review)
• The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (library)
• Spinning Forward by Terri Dulong (review)
  

Reading Now:

• Purity in Death by J.D. Robb (audiobook)
• Always Watching by Brandilynn and Amberly Collins (library)
  
• Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough (review)
• Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (audiobook with DS)
• Sex, Drugs and Gefilte Fish: A Heebe Storytelling Collection (review)
  

Reviews Completed Last Week

• The Last Word by Kathy Herman
• Hell's Gate by Stephen Frey
• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
• Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
• See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays from the World's Most Hilarious Blogging Moms by Beth Feldman
• Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
• Magic Treehouse books #17-24
• Would I Lie To You by Cecily von Ziegesar
  

Next:

• The Maze Runner by James Dasher (review)
• Breaking the Bank by (review)
  
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (review)
  
• The Well-Behaved Child by (review)
  
• Love Your Body, Love Your Life by (review)
• Last Breath by Brandilynn and Amberly Collins
  

Reviews to do:

• Only In Your Dreams by Cecily von Ziegesar
• Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning
• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Relentless by Dean Koontz
• Hunted by P.C. and Kristin Cast
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• True Colors by Kristen Hannah

Summary -
A great week for reading and my blog. With the read-a-thon coming, I spent the week working on catching up my reviews (and keeping my review commitments). I'm thrilled. I still have several reviews to do, but I am pretty much caught up on my October books , except for the ones read over the weekend, but I'll get them done early this week - yay! Now this week to work on my September books that didn't get reviewed and getting some more review books read. The read-a-thon was a blast and I only made it 15 hours - next year I want to try for longer.

Read-a-Thon - Final wrap-up

I made it 15 hours and went 1 hour past my usual bedtime (which is quite amazing for me). I have some health issues at the moment that hinder me from staying up for 24 hours - but I hope to do it one day. Here's my final official summary:

Total Pages: 934 pages
Books Read: 2 1/2

I finished The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson and Spinning Forward by Terri Dulong and got half way through Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan.

It was fun - I'd like to thank all the coordinators and also the wonderful cheerleaders for all you did. Congrats to all of you who made it 24 hours!

Read-a-Thon Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

Getting ready to start Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

2. How many books have you read so far?

I've finished 2 books

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

Maze of Bones

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

No - I have done other things through the day for the kids and DH - I think next year I will make special arrangements. I lucked up though and DS#1 spent the night with a friend and didn't come home until 6pm so there was no fighting most of the day.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

I've had the usual - I just dealt with them. Didn't worry and went with the flow.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

That I haven't read more books.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Nope - I think it's great

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

Make plans for the kids and DH.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Yep - I probably won't make it 24 hours - I have to have sleep, though I am hoping to push my bedtime a little bit.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

Not that I can think of - I've had fun but I don't think I've done anything new. I am thankful for the cheerleaders that have posted - I've enjoyed reading the comments and the cheering.

Read-a-Thon - 12 hour update

So 12 hours have passed and I'm still having a blast. I've sat outside on our porch swing, in DH's comfy rocking chair and in my usual chair in our living room. I did take a small break in the middle of the day but I've been back at it a few hours. I'll probably stretch my bedtime by a little bit tonight but won't make the full 24 hours. What I have done has been fun. Here's my summary:

Total Pages:820 pages
Books Read: 1 (almost 2)

I'll probably do one more update, either tonight before bed or in the morning.