Betrayal, by Danielle Steel

 

Book Title: Betrayal

Author:  Danielle Steel

Published By: Random House Publishing Group

Date Published: March 27, 2012

Genre: Fiction, Romance

Pages: 321

Recommended Age: Adults

Read & Reviewed By:  Me

Rating: A/5

 "[...]if you can't trust an FBI agent, who can you trust?"- Special Agent Jim Kingston

 I got the book from the library.

Summary:

Tallie Jones is a successful film director.  She is happy person with no interest in the perks that come with her profession. She has a good, loving relationship with her daughter, whom is in college, and with her father.  She also has a loving and caring relationship with her boyfriend producer of four years.  He personal assistant is her long-time best friend from college.  Tallie believes everything in her life is good until an audit is performed on her finances and she finds that someone is stealing money from her.  Who among her is betraying her?

My Thoughts:

I loved it!  Danielle Steel did an awesome job once again.  I could not put this book down.  I was up until 3:30 in the morning reading this book.  I first told myself that I would put the book down when I got to page 150, but when I got to page 150 I was in the middle of a chapter.  So I said to myself “I’ll finish this chapter then go to sleep,” but of course that didn’t happen. The characters are so well written I was surprised at the true villian. Steel has a capability to write books without he usage of foul language; therefore, a high school student can read this book if she has a high reading level.

I gave Betrayal five stars and a grade of A because I loved it so much. I always loved reading Steel’s books.  She has a knack for writing about real life issues and invoking an emotional bond with her characters.  I cried a few times.  If you like novels about real issues with a touch of “emotional” romance without the sexual passion, or if you are just a fan of Danielle Steel, I recommend reading Betrayal.  I must warn you it will keep you at night.

Parents:

Language: None

Adult Content: very little

Violence: None

Forever Knight: A Stirring of Dust, by Susan Sizemore

 

Book Title: Forever Knight: A Stirring of Dust

Author: Susan Sizemore

Published By: The Berkley Publishing Company

Date Published: April 1987

Genre: Fan Fiction,  Paranormal, Vampires

Pages: 252

Recommended Age: Adults

Read & Reviewed By: Me

Rating: C/3

I got the book from the library.

Summary:

Nick Knight is a 800 year old vampire who is a homicide detective on the night shift in Toronto. He has come across a gruesome and bizarre case: murder victims all found decapitated. Are they committed by a man recently released from prison who had killed his wife the same way, or are they committed by one of his own kind?

My Thoughts:

I usually do not read fan faction.  There are very few shows I will read the books that were based on them.  Since I recall loving the short-lived drama, Forever Knight when it was on in the nineties and have started watching the DVDs from of the show recently, I decided to pick up the first book written on the series.  I enjoyed reading this book.  It was closely knitted to the TV show, even keeping to the fact that Nick’s first partner died in an airplane bombing and has a new partner. Her name is Tracy Vetter and she is blind as a bat.  What bugs me is how his partner Tracy can hang out with a vampire, Vachon, but she can’t see that her own partner, Nick is a vampire. This just shows me that humans see what they want to see and the writers of the TV and book series knew this. 

I gave A Stirring of Dust a grade of C and three stars.  As much as I liked it, I believe the story line could have been better written.  It could have been more horrifying or maybe just more familiar.  Maybe I read the book before I had watched the episodes where Tracy and Vachon came onto the scene and had my memory refreshed.  As it stood, I couldn’t picture in my head the newer characters. Plus, my little annoyance with Tracy may have played a part as well.  If you enjoy reading about vampires and loved the TV series Forever Knight, I recommend reading A Stirring of Dust, the first book in a line of three books that were written based on the TV series.

Parents:

Language: No

Adult Content: Adult Subject Matter, Heavy topics

Violence: Any violent scenes or acts and their intensity

Wild Desire, by Lori Brighton

 

Book Title:  Wild Desire

Author:  Lori Brighton

Published By: Zebra

Genre: Romance

Date Published:  March, 1, 2011

Pages: 392

Recommended Age: Mature Adults

Read and Reviewed By: Me

Rating: D/ 2

I borrowed this book from the library

Summary:

Beatrice Edmund is a proper English lady who has been tucked away in a Scottish castle with her grandmother for years because of her grandfather’s wishes.  When her long dead cousin, Leo, shows up with his new bride, Ella, for a visit they convince her to travel to India with them.  In India she finds all the adventure a lady could possibly image and more.

Colin Fitch is Ella’s cousin whom they meet in India. He and Bea do not hit it off well when they first meet, but circumstances thrust them together for a week when they are separated from Leo and Ella. 

My Thoughts:

I didn’t really care for this book and have regretted requesting it at the library.   It was a well written story, but I didn’t care for the mystical elements of the book.  I was not able to lose myself in the book because the mystical part made it all seem unrealistic, but it had some good elements. 

I gave Wild Desire two stars and a grade of D because it was filled with adventure.  Bea and Colin are chased by shady characters and the reader is taken to isolated temples throughout the jungles of India. The descriptions of the women’s sari and the castle’s were vivid.  If you enjoy romance with a bit Mystic atmosphere I recommend Wild Desire by Lori Brighton. If you don’t, then stay away from it, but it does make a good beach book.

Parents:

 Language: Some swear words

Adult Content: Sexual Content,

Violence: characters being shot and falling to their deaths

Daughter of Deciet, by Carrie James Haynes

 

Daughter of Deceit

Author: Carrie James Haynes

Published By: N/A

Date Published: N/A

Genre: Historical Suspense

Pages: N/A

Recommended Age: Mature Adults

Read & Reviewed By:  Me

Rating: C/3

I received this book from Amazon.  It was one of Amazon’s free Kindle books they were giving away on a particular day.

Summary:

When Alyce Hythe was a child she was whisked away to the countryside to live in secrecy, shunned from society.  All of England says her deceased father was a notorious spy for America. She has now come back to London to prove her father’s innocent and hears strange voices sending warnings before attempts are taken on her life.

Lord Julian Casvelyn has suffered with the guilt since the death of his twin brother who was murdered by Alyce Hythe’s father, but after saving her from an attempt on her life he begins to suspect that there is more to the tale he was told about his brother’s murder.  Together they the search for the truth that was kept from them.

My Thoughts:

I found the book very intriguing.  I kept wondering whose voice that was calling her warning her to run or wake up before a tragedy happened. Right from the beginning, the reader wonders if she is clairvoyant. Plus, the mystery around why people want her dead when she hasn’t done a thing to another ling creature pulls you.  I also sensed a stronger connection between Alyce and Julian that the book just barely hints at it. 

I gave the Daughter of Deceit three stars and a grade of C. Carrie James Haynes has a creative way of plotting years of conspiracies that slowly found their way to the surface.  Haynes had me running for my life as well; figuratively of course. If you like a book full of suspense with a sprinkle of romance thrown in I recommend Daughter of Deceit.

Parents:

Language: Some swear words

Adult Content: a couple sex scenes

Violence: attempted murder

When Passion Rules, by Johanna Lindsey

 

Book Title: When Passion Rules

Author: Johanna Lindsey

Published By: Gallery

Date Published: June 14, 2011

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 388

Recommended Age: Mature adults

Read & Reviewed By: Me

Rating: A/5

  "Being called a 'wench' never sounded so sexy."-Theresa

 I borrowed this book from the library.

Summary:

Alana Farmer was raised by her uncle in London as part of high society. Then on her eighteenth birthday her uncle tells her he isn’t her uncle at all, or any other blood relation and she is actually a princess he kidnapped from the country of Lubinia.  She must now return to her country of birth and take her place next to her real father, the king.

Christoph Becker is the captain of the palace guards and was placed in charge of Alana because they suspect she is another fake in a long line of imposters.  Christoph keeps an extremely close eye on Alana as he investigates her story.

Theresa's Thoughts:

The characters Johanna Lindsey created was well developed, even down to the paid assassin, Rastibon, who had a change of heart and raised a princess as his own kin in a foreign land to protect her.  It was so believable that I even cried at the moment he had the change of heart.

The storyline was written in a way that it was a believable story, as in this could possibly happen somewhere at sometime. It would have been unbelievable if they believed Alana Farmer right away, because even in the real world you have to investigate everything.  

I gave When Passion Rules five stars and a grade of B, because I loved this book so much and I knew one day I would read it again.  This book pulled me in.  I cried at two spots in the book, at the point I mentioned above and at the last two pages of the book.  Lindsey had out done herself once again.  If you like romance with a twist of mystery and action this is the book for you.  I recommend When Passion Rules.

Parents:

Language: The use of ‘wench’

Adult Content: A few sex scenes

Violence: A couple of shoot outs

Unlocked, by Courtney Milan

 

Book Title: Unlocked

Author: Courtney Milan

Published By: Courtney Milan

Date Published: May 26, 2011
Genre: Historical romance, Novella

Pages: 111

Recommended Age: Adults

Read & Reviewed By: Me

Rating: C/3

I received this book from Amazon.  It was one of Amazon’s free Kindle books they were giving away on a particular day.

Summary:

Lady Elaine Warren has spent years being bullied and laughed at by the other members of the Ton since she was teenager and has resigned herself to being a spinster. Then her main tormenter Evan Carlton, Earl of Westfeld has returned to England.  He is the one who started her life of torment. This time she plans to fight back.

Theresa's Thoughts:

I liked how Courtney Milan made it known that the epidemic of bullying was happening back in the Victorian era and it is nothing new.   I really liked the Milan did not have Elaine fall right into Evan’s arms when he confesses his TRUE feelings for her, because what person who has been tormented like she has and suffered emotional distress would fall in love with her the person caused her misery just because he announced to the Ton why he was mean to her in the first place?

What bothered me was that it was short and without an actual storyline with some substance to it, but I think to myself what if Milan was only trying to set a moral to the story about bullying? Then in that case I had to overlook the fact no one had a deep secret they were trying to hide and no one was being kidnapped.  For that I gave Unlocked three stars and a grade of C.  If you like romance and short stories with a moral behind them I recommend Unlocked.

Parents:

Language: None

Adult Content: Sexual Content, Bullying

Violence: None

Breakfast with the Pope. by Susan Vigilante

 

Breakfast with the Pope

Author: Susan Vigilante

Published By: Richard Vigilante Books  

Date Published: November 17, 2010

Genre: Christian Non-fiction, Memoirs

Pages: 256

Recommended Age: Adults

Read & Reviewed By: Me

Rating: B/4

 "A Christian Eat Pray Love" inside flap

I borrowed this book from the library

Summary:

Susan Vigilante is a Catholic wife who is also a struggling writer and is trying to get pregnant.  Being one of the few Catholic women who follow the Church’s laws, she refuses to get pregnant in vitro or any other medically enhanced way.  She seeks the promise of God’s love through personal relationships with the people in her life and takes a pilgrimage to Rome, where she happens to find herself having breakfast with Pope John Paul II.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed reading Susan Vigilante’s book.  My heart went out her.  I understood her desire for wanting a baby as I want kids of my own some day.  What I didn’t understand was why she wouldn’t allow doctors help her and husband?  Being a Christian myself and part of the large percentage of Christian women who do not let the Church dictate what I do with my body, I would have sought all the medical help I could.  I believe God gave the doctors the knowledge for us to use and I will use it for all it’s worth.

I also didn’t like how her friends turned on her when she decided to write a book about her journey.  The book didn’t show them in a bad light until they demanded she did not write the book.  I found that it to be selfish of them to tell Vigilante not to share her memoirs...and un-Christian. 

But besides that, I loved reading her story and the path she took in finding the peace in herself she sought.  I gave Breakfast with the Pope four stars and a grade of B because it was well written and easy to read.  If you like memoirs like Eat, Pray and Love I recommend Breakfast with the Pope.

Parents:

Language: Clean language

Adult Content: None

Violence: None