Book Review: The Boss’s Stolen Bride by Natalie Anderson

The Boss’s Stolen Bride is written by Natalie Anderson and published by Mills & Boon Modern.

Darcie, Zara and Zack had grown up in a group care home and created a family type unit. When they left the care system Zara had a baby. She worked nights and Darcie days to ensure that the baby, Lily , was care for. Sadly Zara died and Lily went into the care system. Darcie has kept in touch with Lily, as she is her goddaughter, and want to foster/adopt her, to do so she needs to get married.  She tries persuade Zack to marry her by paying him. Unfortunately he vanishes with the money. For the past 2 years Darcie has worked for billionaire Elias Grayson but handed in her notice as she wants to concentrate on adopting Lily. Elias needs Darcie to help him complete a business deal and after they row first at his office, then at the registry office after Zack backs out of marrying her, he decides they can get married in Las Vegas. 

Now Darcie has her groom and he has his irreplaceable assistant but will they function as a family?

I enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. It seemed like the author really enjoyed writing this book. Elias and Darcie are both likeable characters. Darcie seems more determined and foreword thinking than the formulaic M&B heroine whilst Elias does have most of the normal hero pointers of a M&B character he does sometimes come across as being unsure and unconfident. It was interesting that although this as M&B Modern romance there were 2 main storylines, obviously the romance but also Lily’s adoption. The storyline didn’t focus on describing fancy, expensive places but the instead the characters themselves, how they developed, bickered and grew as individuals and a couple. 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted

Book Review: A Season Of Flirtation by Julia Justiss

A Season of Flirtation is a Regency Romance and the first in the Less Likely to Wed series.  that reveals the social snobbery and social strictures that restricted the lives of those who aspired to be or were part of the Ton. Lady Laura Pomeroy and her family started her life in the country, part of the less important gentry. Her father, unexpectedly, became Marquess of Carmelton. They now have a place in Town and she is enjoying being part of the Season, although she has no desire to get married as she feels this would affect her study and enjoyment of mathematics. 

She becomes friends with Susanna Rochdale, a member of a prominent banking family, and agrees to teach her how to flirt and act when trying to catch the attention of someone in the Ton. Her brother, Miles, a banker, also decides to attend these etiquette lessons as he is suspicious of the Ton after getting his heart broken by a debutante previously as a banker wasn’t regarded to have good enough social standing and is waiting for any chance when he can cancel the lessons. He is tall, dark, handsome and an inverted snob. He doesn’t want her to marry someone from the upper class Ton but from their own class, preferably a banker.

Miles discovers that Laura is a kind, lovely person. Unfortunately her father invests her dowry and family money unwisely and it is lost. She loses her position in the Ton and it is though they will have to sell their townhouse and move back to the country. Miles comes up with a plan to save her family’s finances but will they be able to overcome all the other issues and be together? 

 This is a very gentle romance. The first 2/3 of the book are very slow moving but it does speed up in the latter part. The characters are likeable, drawn together with a love of maths they would be the geeks of yesteryear which is rather sweet. I don’t always enjoy historical romances but this one is rereadable and I look forward to reading the other two in the series. 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted

The Secret She Must Tell The Spaniard by Clare Connelly

The Secret She Must Tell The Spaniard is written by Clare Connelly and published by Mills and Boon Modern. The novel combines several themes including secret baby, young love, betrayal, abandonment and reconciliation. 

Alicia was 16 and Graciano, 18,  when they had an affair. Alicia’s father, a minister for the church, accuses Graciano of assaulting Alicia and she stays silent. Graciano leaves, lives on the streets for a while and then slowly builds a financial empire. Alicia is thrown out by her father and sent to live with her Aunt and has a baby. She rings Graciano to tell him that she is pregnant but he rebuffs her. Her father tells her that if she ever has contact with Graciano  he will have him arrested for sexual assault. She has established a charity and is a well known event planner.

They meet 10 years later at Alicia’s charity event. She is auctioning her services as an event planner to raise money for her charity. Graciano wins the auction and takes her to his private slabs to plan his event. 

The attraction between the pair is still there and as they compare notes over what happened in the past they realise both have made mistakes and misunderstandings are ironed out. They succumb to the attraction but Alicia has to rush home when her daughter has accident. This is when Graciano discovers he has a nine year old daughter. He threatens to take Anne away then he reads the baby book Alicia has made for him and declares his love for her. 

Reading back the synopsis I have just written I should have enjoyed this book but I didn’t. The characters weren’t particularly likeable. Even by the end of the book Anne (the daughter) didn’t know Graciano was her father. The daughter is hardly mentioned throughout the book which is strange considering it is a secret baby trope book. Alicia made one phone call to tell him he was going to be a father then for the next nine years didn’t bother making contact, but she thought about it every day. The ending seem very rushed without the characters properly processing the fact that all their lives had changed now Graciano was in the picture. I think this is the first one of her novels that I have struggled to reach the end of. 

 I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted

Book Review: Secret Son To Change His Life by Alison Roberts

This is a second chance at love novel from the Mills and Boon Medical genre. The book is written by Alison Roberts and is the first in the Morgan Family Medics mini series.

Brie and Jonno are both paramedics. They had a one night stand 6 years ago which resulted in Felix, their little boy. Unfortunately Jonno disappeared after their night together and so he doesn’t know about Felix. Brie did try to find him but her search was fruitless. 6 years later they meet again during a call out that has turned violent. She finally gets to tell him about his son. At first he is angry, but then he is her rock when Felix has complications from his spina bifida. The attraction between Brie and Jonno is still there but will it survive all the stresses that are in their lives? 

I enjoyed the fact that the reader was not overloaded by medical jargon. As the author used to be a paramedic there was just the right balance between romance and medicalease.  Reading the notes to reader, the second book - How To Rescue The Heart Doctor - will be using the same characters as  the first, focusing not only on the found a son with health issues storyline but also father son/ older couple finding love again storylines which sounds an enjoyable read. 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted

Review: Dr Teal's Coconut Oil Foaming Bath

I purchased the Dr Teal’s Coconut Oil Foaming Bath (1000ml) via Amazon. It cost £8.99 with next day Prime delivery. 

The foaming bath oil is supposed to nourish, moisturise, soften and protect skin whilst you bathe. The oil is combined with Epsom Salts to ensure that your mind body is fully relaxed and soothed. The combination of the smell of coconut with Epsom Salt creates a sensory experience in the bath as you feel relaxed and enclosed in a warm coconutty bubble bath. 

I found the oil to be thick and gloopy and hard to dispense - I have little hands and found it hard to hold the bottle and squeeze the oil out. I found that I needed quite a lot to make a bath full of bubbles. I think a bottle would only last me three or four times, but maybe I am just too extravagant with it! The bubbles lasted a good 1/2 hour even after the bath cooled down. The water did look, feel and smell relaxing. There was a coconut scent which was still on my skin  a few days later. My skin felt nourished, soothed and moisturised and I felt relaxed in myself and I felt my sleep was less broken than usual.  

I enjoyed using this product and I will probably repurchase in the future. 

I purchased this item myself and the views expressed in this blog post are my own. 

Book Review: One Night With Her Viking Warrior by Sarah Rodi

Raedan and Rebekah  are both Saxons who lived at Reystone Keep. Lady Rebekah had been sent there after the Danes attacked her home. She was burned but survived and went to live with her Uncle Cynerik. He wants her to marry her cousin, Lord Atol but she has fallen for Raedan, the stable boy. They have one night together then he vanished. Her Uncle told her that he is dead. As she sees no happiness in her future she agrees to marry Atol. Her Uncle does a few months later and Atol refuses to marry her unless she has a son. She has a daughter. 

Years pass and Rebekah is essentially the Lady of the Keep, without a marriage and forced to be Atol’s leman. Years pass and the Danes invade again, led by Halfdan. She is captured during the battle and realises Halfdan is actually Raedan. 

Raedan is devastated that Rebekah agreed to marry Atol so soon after she had been told he had died. In reality he had been captured and sold into slavery.  Years pass and he is bought and released by Jarl Knud and his sister. He became Halfdan and trained to be a warrior who quickly rose through the ranks. 

He leads the attack on the Keep and captured Rebekah. He thought he was over her but realises the chemistry between them is still there. Their secrets start to come out: he had been a slave, she had no part in his banishment or being sold into slavery and Atol had abused her. He decided to take her back to Nedergaard and returns to the keep to rescue her daughter Gytha from the Keep. 

Atol gives chase but they escape. Raedan takes Rebekah and her daughter to his home and they marry so he can protect them. There are still secrets to be uncovered, misunderstandings and enemies waiting to attack so the road to their HEA will not be easy!  

This is a second chance at love romance. The pair were ripped apart years ago and both have been treated very badly ever since then. When they meet again they are enemies but this transcends from barely standing the sight  of each other to slowly turn to trust and love as their secrets are shared. The plot line moves extremely quickly and includes themes of betrayal, battle, lust, love, and adventure. The story switches from seeing the story from the viewpoint of both the main characters. I don’t always enjoy novels with scenes written in the first person but it was well done and enjoyable to read. 

The characters, even the villains are full of character and larger than life. Rebekah is very determined and controlled whilst Raedan is a proficient warrior he shows another caring side when playing and interacting with Gytha. I wish the villains had been more severely dealt with by the author, they almost seem superfluous and forgotten  by the end of the novel. 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted

Book Review Falling Again For The Brazilian Doc by Luana DaRosa

Yara Silvia and Salvador Martins first met as teenagers 30 years ago. They fell in love but Yara’s parents disapproved and bribed her by paying for her medical school tuition if she dumped Sal. Sal was broken hearted but has moved on with his life. Yara is now a well known diagnostician, Sal a radiologist. He is bring up his nephew, Felix, as his brother is in prison. Sal’s long term relationship fell apart as hos partner couldn’t cope with Felix, whilst she is a commitmentphobe after a traumatic divorce. 

This is a second chance at love romance but with a twist. They meet when Yara returns to  work at the same hospital as Sal - the Centro Medico Juliana Amala Brasilia to work on a consultant on a case that is proving very difficult to diagnose.  There is still chemistry between the pair but as Sal’s last serious relationship was with Edinho he is concerned she will seem him differently whilst she doesn’t she still remains committed to being anti commitment. 

Yara solves the case and despite being offered a full time job at the hospital remains undecided. Felicity is admitted to hospital after falling off a wall and tells her that his uncle had been the happiest he has seen him in the past two weeks for a long time. Sal, however, feels guilt for his nephews’s accident and tells Yara it’s over. Will his nephew manage to persuade him to go after her? 

This is the first  time when  reading any Mills & Boon imprints bisexuality has been a mention or a (very brief) part of the plot line. The question to ask is: Did it add anything to the storyline or was it merely to broaden the appeal of the novel to a larger audience?  The whole issue of queerness, bisexuality and new relationships fitted into the storyline without feeling forced but it didn’t really add anything to the storyline. Maybe if Edinho had actually been a character who the readers could relate to, rather than merely mentioned in passing Sal’s bisexuality would have become a stronger  secondary storyline. 

The characters don’t really gel together. They seem superficial and don’t seem to warm to each other outside the bedrooms even though their respective backstories which shape their characters are outlined in the first few chapters. 

The artwork on the front of the book is unfair both the main characters are both Doctors from Brazil. Yes the photo is a handsome middle aged male but why couldn’t there have been a photo of a middle age ish woman on the front Of the book or a photo of two middle aged individuals as both are Doctors who fall in love again, or would that have been a step to far? 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted