Book Review: Unmasking Juliet

Author: Teri Wilson

Publication Date: May 27, 2014

Publisher: Harlequin

Ever since she was a little girl learning to make decadent truffles in her family's chocolate shop, Juliet Arabella has been aware of the bitter feud between the Arabella’s and the Mezzanotte’s. With their rival chocolate boutiques on the same street in Napa Valley, these families never mix. Until one night, when Juliet anonymously attends the annual masquerade ball. In a moonlit vineyard, she finds herself falling for a gorgeous stranger, a man who reminds her what passion is like outside of the kitchen. But her bliss is short-lived when she discovers her masked prince is actually Leo Mezzanotte, newly returned from Paris and the heir to her archenemy's confection dynasty. 

With her mind in a whirl, Juliet leaves for Italy to represent the Arabella’s in a prestigious chocolate competition. The prize money will help her family's struggling business, and Juliet figures it's a perfect opportunity to forget Leo…only to find him already there and gunning for victory. As they compete head-to-head, Leo and Juliet's fervent attraction boils over. But Juliet's not sure whether to trust her adversary, or give up on the sweetest love she's ever tasted…

There at the Mezzanotte Masquerade Ball, Juliet Arabella was swept off her feet by a man whose name she didn’t even know, carried away on a wild grape-scented river of kisses, sweeter and more decadent than any chocolate she’d ever tasted.

But a lifetime of loathing told her things weren’t quite so simple.

Oh, how the mighty had fallen.

Some things were just better left unsaid.

A cute retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but this time we have the Mezzanottes against the Arabellas. And in this particular retelling both families are owners of rival chocolate shops; this was an interesting twist on the well-known family feud. Shakespeare has never been one of my favorite, but for some reason I love to read retellings of his famous plays. Juliet Arabella has worked in her family’s chocolate shop all of her life, and she is all too familiar with the everlasting family feud between her family and the Mezzanottes. Leo Mezzanotte has just returned to help his family run their chocolate shop, and he and Juliet cross paths upon his return. They find that they have a strong chemistry together and can’t seem to stay away from one another.

Between the backdrop of the chocolate shops where Leo and Juliet worked and the fascinating Napa Valley setting, I was swept up in this story right off the bat. This book put me right in the world of fancy chocolatiers. The descriptions were absolutely wonderful and I especially loved seeing the world of chocolate from the different viewpoints of the feuding families. Also I should mention, don’t read this book when you are hungry, or especially if you have a sweet tooth!

This is a fun, entertaining, summer read. The plot unfolds little by little and you slowly find out about the feud between the families and get some history as to why they are where they are now. It started out a little slow, however it picks up so quickly that you forget any moment where you felt that the story might have dragged. I especially liked Juliet’s voice; I thought it had a touch of naïveté to it, but this made her all the more likeable. She seemed sweet and innocent and I loved watching her fall in love for the first time in her life!

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Harlequin in exchange for my honest review***

Book Review: The Prime Minister's Secret Agent

Author: Susan Elia MacNeal

Publication Date: July 1, 2014

Publisher: Bantam

Series: Maggie Hope Mystery # 4

For fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Charles Todd, and Anne Perry, The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent is a gripping new mystery featuring intrepid spy and code breaker Maggie Hope. And this time, the fallout of a deadly plot comes straight to her own front door.
 
World War II rages on across Europe, but Maggie Hope has finally found a moment of rest on the pastoral coast of western Scotland. Home from an undercover mission in Berlin, she settles down to teach at her old spy training camp, and to heal from scars on both her body and heart. Yet instead of enjoying the quieter pace of life, Maggie is quickly drawn into another web of danger and intrigue. When three ballerinas fall strangely ill in Glasgow—including one of Maggie’s dearest friends—Maggie partners with MI-5 to uncover the truth behind their unusual symptoms. What she finds points to a series of poisonings that may expose shocking government secrets and put countless British lives at stake. But it’s the fight brewing in the Pacific that will forever change the course of the war—and indelibly shape Maggie’s fate.

Maggie had heard the expression heartache before, of course, but never thought it would be so literal.

Maggie Hope had thought that summer in Berlin was hell, but it was nothing compared to the inferno of darkness that now raged in her own head, even as she was “safe as houses” in Arisaig on the western coast of Scotland.

“And for that I’m going to make her pay.”

I have yet to be disappointed with a book in this series. Maggie Hope has quickly become my hero and one of my most favorite characters of all time. Whenever a new book releases, I drop whatever else I am reading until I can get through Maggie’s next story. This is the fourth book in this series, and I hope that MacNeal will continue to write these books for many years to come. In this book Maggie is back at the estate in Scotland where she received her training many years ago, and now she is training young girls just like herself. However, Maggie is forced to take some time off for relaxation purposes and because her emotional state is just one huge mess. During her visit to Edinburgh, however, Maggie’s close friend gets caught up in a deadly plot and it will be up to Maggie to once again save the day!

I am currently in the mood to read historical fiction and the Maggie Hope book usually take care of that for me. MacNeal does a phenomenal job of weaving in fact and fiction. A lot of things she describes in these books is in fact and will allow readers to gain a history lesson while reading. A lot of her characters are real, while other are fiction. Winston Churchill will always be one of my favorite characters from these books. I like that MacNeal can easily talk about facts relevant to the war while still bringing in fiction elements whenever she needs to.

Maggie’s character has really changed over the series and after everything she has been through has changed her demeanor a tad. This is only to be expected after all she has witnessed, heard about, and been a part of. I really hoped that things would slow down for Maggie in this book and that wish was somewhat granted, but Maggie, while she was supposed to be vacationing and resting, can’t help but to get herself mixed up in another mystery that needs to be solved. I did enjoy the short time that she was at Arisaig instructing the young girls to train and fight just like she did. I wish we could have spent more time there.

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Bantam in exchange for my honest review***

Blog Tour Book Review: Beautiful Oblivion

Author: Jamie McGuire

Publication Date: July 1, 2014

Publisher: Atria

Series: Maddox Brothers # 1

The Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster phenomenon continues in the first heart-pounding new adult romance in The Maddox Brothers series.

Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.

Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt. 

Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red. 

As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.

In the first installment of the Maddox Brothers books, readers can experience the rush of reading Beautiful Disaster for the first time, all over again.

I was in trouble. Big, disastrous, Maddox trouble.

“I am the one, Cami. I’m it for you. I know because you’re it for me.”

“Anything to do with the Maddoxes is never boring.”

“I hope you like cherry coke, baby doll, or we can’t be friends.”

An entire serious dedicated to the Maddox brothers. Let’s take a moment just to take that in. Most of us fell in love with the Maddox brothers when we were introduced to Travis, and now we are going to meet each one of them individually starting with Trenton. McGuire had quite the task in writing this book because she has Maddox fans everywhere that were lying in wait that she could not disappoint. In my opinion, this book was a complete success and she completely nailed it! Trenton Maddox has always been in love with Camille Camlin and he decides that nothing is going to stand in his way from being with her, not even the fact that Cami has a boyfriend living in California. I’m already in love with this series!

I loved Cami and Trent and it is impossible to say which one I loved better. Trenton Maddox is different from Travis, but he is still enough of a Maddox for readers to fall completely in love. Trent was persistent, determined, charming, and very sweet, especially when it came to Cami and a little girl named Olive, whom I absolutely adored. Trenton had a little bit of mystery about it and I found it absolutely thrilling how he would not give up on Cami, even after she turned him down time after time. Reading their love story was complete bliss and McGuire got everything right.

This book carries quite a large cast of secondary characters as well, and that helped make Trent and Cami’s life more relatable. Cami’s family is just one huge mess and she has three brothers who are very protective, yet demanding of her at times. Her best friend, Reagan, was another of my favorite parts about this book as well. Reagan was very supportive of Cami and had her own dilemmas in love as well. Travis made a big appearance in this book as well, and it is always nice to have more than one Maddox brother per page!

Happy Birthday, Trenton! Today is his birthday!

**Readers, please check out this link to enter a fabulous giveaway for a copy of this book: www.bit.ly/BeautifulOblivionBook

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Atria in exchange for my honest review***

Book Review: Full Steam Ahead

Author: Karen Witemeyer

Publication Date: June 3, 2014

Publisher: Bethany House

Nicole Renard returns home to Galveston, Texas, to find her father deathly ill. Though she loves him, Nicole's father has always focused on what she's not. Not male. Not married. Not able to run Renard Shipping.

Vowing to find a suitable husband to give her father the heir he desires before it's too late, Nicole sets out with the Renard family's greatest treasure as her dowry: the highly coveted Lafitte Dagger. But her father's rivals come after the dagger, forcing a change in Nicole's plans.

After a boiler explosion aboard the Louisiana nearly took his life, Darius Thornton has been a man obsessed. He will do anything to stop even one more steamship disaster. Even if it means letting a female secretary into his secluded world.

Nicole is determined not to let her odd employer scare her off with his explosive experiments, yet when respect and mutual attraction grow between them, a new fear arises. How can she acquire an heir for her father when her heart belongs to another? And when her father's rivals discover her hiding place, will she have to choose between that love and her family's legacy?

Nicole blinked once. Then again. A son-in-law? Just who did he expect her to marry? One of his cronies from New Orleans? They were old enough to be…well, her father.

The protection of the Renard family legacy now rested on her shoulders. She’d guard it well.

Trust was all well and good, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

Will Karen Witemeyer ever write a less than mediocre story? I honestly don’t believe so. She is constantly knocking me off my feet with all of her wonderful novels. This one makes the third that I have read of hers so far, and I have them proudly atop my favorite’s shelf. They are all so wonderful! Our main characters, Nicole and Darius, are both in need of something. One needs a husband and an heir and the other only needs a secretary, but together they might just be more for each other than they first intended.

Nicole Renard stole my heart right away and definitely won my award for favorite character in this book. We learn early on that Nicole’s father has often been disappointed in everything she is not: not male, not married, and not producing an heir to run his company, Renard Shipping. Nicole is so loyal to her father and only wants to please him. Nicole has so many charming and enduring character traits. After learning of her father’s ill health, she sets off in search of a man worthy enough to be her husband and to help maintain her father’s business. She is a character that is very worthy of praise!

Romance and historical fiction mix so well, don’t you think? I loved learning about Nicole’s family history and was very interested to know about the prized dagger that her father held in his possession, believing it to bring good luck. On the other hand, the romance was just as interesting. It was a bit steamier in this book than in the others I have read by Witemeyer, but not enough that I would not recommend to someone as young as 16 or 17. Very well written all across the boards!

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Bethany in exchange for my honest review***