Claire DelacroixRezensionen

Disclaimer: I haven't read the other books in this series, so I'm not sure what I'm missing out on..

That said, let me preface that I am a fan of romance and the romance genre in general. However, this book is not the romance I am looking for and while I understand that, you know, ancient times and yada yada, whatever, it's just isn't my cup of tea unfortunately...

Another strike against this book is that, it would have benefited greatly if it was trimmed to half of what it is...there is just so much in there that just...isn't...necessary!

I would have loved to know more about what is going on with the fae...you know? (Feels much juicier somehow...XD) Hmm, feels like that is the only good thing going for this book....not sure I care very much about the main couple actually.

P.S. The porn is kinda meh as well~



[Disclaimer: Copy received from Giveaway.]

I gave this book five stars only for J.D. Robb's story, which is wonderful. I quite like "Christmas Promises" by Susan Plunkett. I didn't enjoy the rest of the stories.

Quick Word: Only enjoyed two of the stories, but the first was especially original. I also took pleasure from the story by Sharon Shinn, which, as always, has beautiful characterization and imagery.

FROM AMAZON: Driven from her late husband’s estate, Countess Eglantine de Crevy fled to wildest Scotland to claim a castle, only to find a ruin—and a clan chieftain standing guard. Kinbeath was hers, she declared, vowing to rebuild the manor and launch a bride quest so her daughters could marry for love. But Duncan MacLaren had devised a bride quest of his own, swearing to win the land—and the fiery countess—in a war of sweet seduction… Eglantine declared she would never be captured by this barbarian. Yet Duncan awakened passions she had never known before. She promised to fight him with every weapon at her command even as he vowed to woo her for a year and a day—and make her his pagan bride. Each thought Kinbeath the prize the most desired, a prize to be won at any price. Until passion turned to love, and the chieftain found himself fighting for the heart and hand of the woman he was born to possess.

I read this for the Sharon Shinn story. So good.

Como parte de sus continuos esfuerzos para organizar buenos matrimonios para sus hermanas, Alexander, el laird de Kinfairlie, dirige su atención a la testaruda y obstinada Vivienne, organizando su secuestro por el pretendiente que la había rechazado años antes, pero lo que no sabe es que el secuestrador es en realidad otra persona.
Como una heroína en un cuento antiguo, Vivienne esperó en la cámara más alta de la torre de Kinfairlie a su amante predestinado. En la oscuridad, él fue a por ella, cubierto y encapuchado para que ella no viera su rostro. La amó dulcemente, a fondo ... y Vivienne supo que había encontrado su destino.
Pero a la luz de la mañana, su sueño se rompe. Erik Sinclair de Blackleith no es un héroe romántico, sino un guerrero desheredado que arregló su secuestro para recuperar su propio legado.

Lady Eleanor ha aprendido a ser deseada sólo por su fortuna y, cuando acepta al matrimonio con Alexander de Kinfairlie, únicamente espera vivir segura. Pero su marido la colma de atenciones y vuelve a despertar en ella la pasión, sin preocuparse por su riqueza...Una riqueza que los enemigos de Eleanor desean a cualquier precio...

I used to read a lot of Ms. Delacroix's books, but I somehow lost track in my massive TBR pile. I'm glad I picked this one up because it's a great story. Alys is thought to be a witch, but she's primarily intent on keeping away intruders from the ruins of her home. Maximilian is one of three brothers, and he has inherited the castle lands that he once conquered as a mercenary for his father. Alys's tricks and Max's attempts to thwart them make for an exciting story. Ms. Delacroix has always written great medieval romances and I'm glad I found her again.

I started skimming at 66% because I got tired of waiting for that other shoe to drop, plus there's more description than I care about. Luckily, I liked how it resolved. I particularly liked who took it the best, and why.

I liked the writer's style, but she needed to work harder to give me a believable plot. That the deception drags on with so much assumption and presumption despite growing feelings? That lessened my respect for both characters, making the whole story less appealing. People do keep secrets, and lie, but this was excessive and nonsensical - a plot device rather than a functional plot element. Unlike a few other reviewers, I didn't dislike the dishonesty in the D/s aspect. These two are both very new and Ty isn't even sure it's okay for quite awhile, despite being stupid enough to do what his friend suggests.

Ultimately, I don't like stupid MCs. Read this if free is a price you prefer. :)

[b:Simply Irresistible|26803810|Simply Irresistible (Flatiron Five, #1)|Deborah Cooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503429967l/26803810._SY75_.jpg|46828397] by [a:Deborah Cooke|1005984|Deborah Cooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1434892529p2/1005984.jpg]
Genres; Adult, Contemporary, Romance
2.75 Stars

Mostly it was boring.

The last half was much better than the 1st half and is what brought my star rating up.

More about this story later.

[b:Kiss of Fire|39337380|Kiss of Fire (The Dragonfire Novels, #1)|Deborah Cooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1521631521s/39337380.jpg|2230245] by [a:Deborah Cooke|1005984|Deborah Cooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1434892529p2/1005984.jpg]
Genres; Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
2 Stars (and that is generous)

1st, I'm sorry Starr, but this was a massive failure. It was so boring it took me 9 days UNDER 300 pages. That may be an all time record for me.

The 2 stars are for the fact I found no typo's nor editing errors and no grammatical nor sentence problems. In that area the book is well written. But..........OMG! A snail can run faster than this book. It was like reading a textbook from school! You know, the ones you have to read to get a good grade and it nearly puts you to sleep after reading just one paragraph. This author even goes so far to give us estensive history lessons!

As far as 'Sex Scenes' go....... well, hmmmm, trying to think of how to put this.
Ah, I got it! Think of a sex scene written by a person who only writes 'Clean' scenes, avoids all use of any words that may be considered 'naughty, indelicate, colorful, intimate, or ADULT and there you go. That is your Steamy sex scene.

All the characters are boring. The world build is boring. The dialogue is boring. The entire book is Boring!. The best part is the very beginning. After that, it works best as a sedative. Make sure you have a pillow and your favorite blanket. It will put you out.

I'm a fan of this series but this one was a pretty big miss for me. The hero Brandon was an idiotic gullible goob. I have no clue why the heroine would ever think she was in love with him. Because he was hawt I guess. Don't know which dragon will get his firestorm next, but if it is Thorolf it looks like he might no be any smarter. Still loving the beautiful description of dragon colors though.

This was a pretty good addition to the series. I do think thought you would be totally lost if you haven't read the others in the series. I thought that Lorenzo was a bit of a whiner but he wasn't too bad. The heroine, Cassie, was interesting. The story had a bit tighter of a focus on the main couple than the last book did but there was still a lot of the overarching story going on. The thing I disliked most was at the end Lorenzo arranged it so that 10,000 people including kids would be there when a dead body was discovered. That wasn't cool.

This is an interesting and fun series but it isn't to die for romantic. I love picturing all the different colored dragons.

I had a hard time choosing a rating for this book. I've enjoyed this series from the beginning. I was really looking forward to it and couldn't wait to read about Rafferty's firestorm. But I think so much other stuff was happening with the over arcing story line that Rafferty's story was slighted. I almost wanted to give it 2 stars. Is that because I expected too much? It was okay and I liked it in a general way but at the same time I was pretty disappointed. Some parts of it seemed hurried and and unclear. A bunch of new characters were introduced and at times it felt like they were being shoe horned in. So am I giving it less stars than it deserves because my expectations were too high or more stars than it deserves because I'm a loyal fan of the series? I guess maybe you'll have to read it yourself to decide. The dragons are still beautiful though.

Didn't like this one as well since Eric had already had a firestorm and I'm not fond of reincarnation stories as a general rule. Okay as a part of this series though.

I didn't like this one as well as the one before it. I guess I don't really like it when characters invent something that doesn't really exist. I can buy it if the story takes place in the future but not if it takes place currently. It's just a quirk of mine I know. I did like Alex though. And Donovan is a nice strong character also. I'm continuing to love the dragons and the expanding world. I really love picturing all the dragons in all the lovely color combinations.

I really enjoy this series and I liked this one very well better than some of the others. The plot made sense. There was thinking and growing on the part of both the main characters. The dialog is entertaining. The characters were well drawn. He is a very honorable guy but is a bit rigid although he tries hard not to be and she is a free thinker who hides behind her tough image. They are a good match.

The secondary characters were good as always. There were little bits in the POVs of other characters. I don't really like the baby who is self aware and is an old soul but I just suffer through that part.

The character of Thorolf is an entertaining and engaging one. It was nice to see him grow so that by the time he has his firestorm we'll really be rooting for him. Rafferty was in the book quite a bit too and it looks like the next one is his story. Finally, I'm happy to see it.

One of the things that didn't work so well for me is that the trauma in her past didn't ring quite true. There was this big deal about her having learned not to trust people and that loving someone hurt too much when you lost them. I think that when you eventually find out what's up with that, the reality doesn't really match the set up. I don't want to say more so that I don't spoil it for people who haven't read it but I think that different happenings in the past would have led in a stronger way to her current emotional situation.

All in all another good story in a very enjoyable series.

A nice strong start to the series. Very good writing style and well thought out world building. Good immersion into the dragons' world without so much explanation that you get bogged down. Information about the dragons is told only when Sara would discover it. Quinn is a very good character, very sympathetic and you really root for him to find true love. Sara also is a very strong character who does a good job rolling with the punches.

A short story but in no way did it feel incomplete.
I felt the last part about transforming his appearance to be handsome was not really necessary. Even though it was mentioned several times the the hero was ugly, the breaking of the curse felt like like an afterthought. There was no hint beforehand that his appearance was cursed. And even before the end, Drakina found him attractive because of his personality and character.

I like sarah monette (aka katharine addison of goblin emperor) as a romance writer. 'A gift of wings' is a bit trite as romance tends to be, but pleasant.

The others were literally unreadable.

The romance faded in the fire of the dragon shifter story and superb world building.

Spend a delightful ADULT afternoon with this Christmas Regency romance about an unconventional marriage of convenience. I had an ARC via Booksprout and this voluntary review is my own opinion.

I read this for a book discussion club,or rather, I listened to it. The narration was fine, and the book was OK, but a far cry from other historical romances that take place in Scotland.

Still, I was sufficiently entertained, and learned a few things, although I think a glossary wouldn't have gone amiss, as there are lots of expressions that aren't exactly widely known.

The main characters were plastic, however, the others were pale, and their motivation incomprehensible, especially towards the end.

The story unfolds nicely, but then it rushes towards the climax, and somehow, the way it was done didn't convince me.

The Crusader's Bride by Claire Delacroix
Love the time frame 1100's and with a Templar knight.
Like how we are taught about Gaston and his life with the Templars.
He's determined now that his older brother is dead that he needs a wife and son and he searches and finds a widow that will suit his needs.
They are both a bit hestiant with love making but scenes are described in detail. Love the march, hwo is on it and those hidden on the journey.
When it comes time to battle Gaston sends the others to the fort and when he knows they will be protected he is able to talk to the leader. Never expectd what happened next.
Totally love the underground tunnels to the sea where he hopes to board the ship the others are on...
Nobody can believe he is not dead...their journey continues through more obstacles and fights.
Yasmine patches him up well enough and he returns to fighting and sticking up for the pilgrimage.
Major kidnapping and burning and you wonder how Yasmine is able to escape...Love when they finally reach her parents home and how they get along with one another.
Hope to read more from this series as I know a few of the characters already.

Zoȅ is fifteen and a half full of angst to start developing into a woman and to regain her dragon shifter and wyvern powers. When trying to protect her friend from a bully, she partially shifts getting her into a lot of trouble and sent off to Dragon Boot Camp. Zoȅ still can't fully shift and she doesn't know how to access her powers but things are about to change.

The author does a great job giving the reader all the information they may have missed or forgotten from the Dragonfire series. However it was a bit confusing when Zoȅ seems to get the hots for any good looking boy when she believes Nick is her destiny. There's lots of interesting twists and side stories in this first book of the Dragon Diaries, as well as teenage angst and self-doubt.

More of my reviews can be found at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/