The Dragon and the Pearl by Jeannie Lin

I read both Butterfly Swords and The Taming of Mei Lin and consider myself a fan of this author. Both historical romances took place during the Tang dynasty and those and this one are all very well written, a perfect blend of story and sex, of description and action. All three of them make me feel as though I have stepped back into the Tang dynasty into a world of warriors, swords, emperors, courtesans, paper lantern festivals, and danger.

This one is a bit different from the previous two, however. In Butterfly and Taming, the heroines were strong fighters, their weapons were their swords. In this one, the heroine, Suyin, is a former courtesan with a secret she could die over. Her weapon is her body. I must confess, though I loved how this was written and the above praise still stands, I preferred the first two books for that reason. I'm more into the warrior woman than courtesan thing. 


Suyin is Li Tao's captive. (He is from Butterfly. Readers will recognize him and get to know him better in this one... much better.) She feels an intense desire for him despite the circumstances, or maybe because of. There's something about a threatening war load.... Anyway, she agrees to surrender her body in exchange for his protection as someone wants her dead. But she ends up surrendering her heart as well and soon she is struggling to protect him more than herself and make him see the error of his war lord/anti emperor ways. 


The book is filled with hot sex (wish there had been some with that tattoo scene...) and thought these two don't fight with swords like the heroes and heroines in the previous novels, they fight with words. 


A good book bringing to life the Tang Dynasty. I liked it, just not as much as Butterfly and Taming. I love those fightin' females. :) 


Three stars and I got this from netgalley.


P.S. How about that cover??? Wow!

Broken Paradise by Cecilia Samartin

This is one of those books that I don't even feel worthy enough to write a review for.. It's just too beautiful and too well written.

The setting is Cuba, pre Castro.. two cousins and best friends are growing up together. Nora looks at Alicia and thinks she has it all, the looks, the boys... but things change after the revolution and Castro. Nora goes to the states and she has the "charmed" life. Alicia chooses to stay and her life is not what anyone thought it would be.

And Alicia.. does all that she does for love. Kinda stupid, but kinda beautiful too. Imagine selling your body just to make sure your husband gets oranges and soap while he is in prison for speaking his mind, for revolting against a dictator.. Imagine wasting away to nothing in hopes that you can buy his passage to freedom. That's some strong love.

And there's a beautiful blind girl too. There's the rise and fall of communism. When does it become a dictatorship? There's interracial relations and the heated arguments it raises. There's hunger, thirst, and drifting at sea while sharks thump against the boat.There's two women who realize they can't wait for hope to find them, but must seek it themselves.

The descriptions: Superbly done. Not over done. The characters: wonderfully developed. The history: very thought evoking. The book overall: Terrific. 


Five stars and I bought this on Amazon.

Under Fire by Rita Henuber

This is a very exciting book full of nonstop action, great sex, and a tough Coast Guard Helo flying chick!

Olivia has a top notch career with the USCG and has earned a lot of respect, but she's willing to throw it all away to avenge her twin brother's death. He was an undercover killed by drug dealers. Someone gave him up. Olivia is bound and determined to find out who.

Thus, she meets Rico. Rico is an undercover as well and they are both after the same people, but Rico doesn't really want a family member getting in his way. That's before he realizes how very persistent Olivia is.

They end up in a partnership. Goal: Take down kingpin Silva and find out who's been ratting on the undercovers.. and stay alive while doing so. That may not be easy.. These are some bad seeds they are getting involved with. Rico has been made so it's up to Olivia to infiltrate the organization. Meanwhile, everyone is looking for them.. the Feds, the CG, the DEA....

There's hot sex, dancing, humor, hand to hand combat, shootouts, helicopters... It's all good! It's obvious to me that the author really did her research on Military and specifically CG procedures. I am very impressed. There are a lot of things in here that I didn't know.

I have only one quibble: Sometimes it was too much sex, too little story. There were just a few spots in the book where I said, "they're going at it again???" Almost as though sex was inserted just for the sake of them having sex. LOL

LOL moment:

Rico: "What's it going to take to get you to dance with me?"

She crooked her index finger and motioned him to come close. "A million in your bank account and seven inches in your pants."

Without missing a beat he replied, "The million I have, but even for a woman as beautiful as you, I won't cut off three inches."

I received this egalley thru netgalley.

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Running Wide Open by Lisa Nowak

I rarely read books with male leads or narrators, but this one has a female mechanic in it so I decided to give it a go. Though it was a bit too much testosterone for me at times, it is an enjoyable read.

Cody is 15 and a juvie... and he is an ungrateful brat. I didn't like him at first.. but as the story unfolds, I could see WHY he is the way he is.. full of anger, insolent, disrespectful, ungrateful, bitter. His family has made him that way. His mother is a nightmare, his father a wuss, and his grandparents are no better. So when the you know what hits the fan, nobody wants him and he goes to live with his uncle, Race, who's very into stock car racing. (He's got the lady mechanic.)

Funny thing I noticed.. When Cody gets his life together, his mom decides she wants him back. Hmph.

I'm not going to go on and on about the plot, but I will say there is more to this than appears at first glance. It's the story of a boy and his teenage angst and anger (I did get a bit tired of this at times. Simply not my thing.) and about family learning to accept each other and also about admitting you love someone and even allowing yourself to love someone. And then there is a story of determination, an injured man who wants to race again.. It's about pulling yourself up from the dirt, brushing yourself off, and getting back on that horse.

Four stars. It was very well written and thought I didn't always like Cody and his attitude, I did appreciate his sarcasm and sense of humor. He's a funny kid.

Favorite quote: "Everyone makes a bad decision now and again. Only time it gets to be a problem is when you don't admit to it and set things right."

I received this from the author.

Lots of car stuff in this book and and just for fun. 

Shut Up & Dance! by Jamie Rose

The Joy of Letting Go of the Lead - On the Dance Floor and Off.... Yep, that's the "subtitle" of this book. And something the modern day woman needs a bit of guidance with...

This book tells us, basically, that the modern day woman has become so adamant about being independent and strong and not dependent on men that we have become anti man and that we no longer LISTEN to them at all. And sometimes, well, we need to let men be men.


The book does not tell us women to be simpering ninnies that follow our men everywhere, however. First of all, the man has to EARN the right to lead. You don't let your man lead you right off a cliff.. The book doesn't tell us to suddenly become complete followers either, but does make an interesting point: If you start leading (controlling) every aspect of your relationship in the beginning, you will most likely always be the one in control and I don't care who you are, that gets old and there comes a point in the relationship where you go, "why am I doing all the work? Why doesn't he do anything here?" The answer this book pointed out to me: "You never let him!"


That was an eye opening moment for me, right there. Basically, women today can maintain their independence and all,  just every now and then, let your man have a say, LISTEN to what he says (that was a huge part of the book).


Really, if you don't trust your man enough to "follow" his lead, you probably shouldn't be with him. (That's my own words.)


Key points the book makes: LISTEN to your man. Make him EARN the right to lead. You must LOVE yourself before you even know what you want in a man and a man will love you. Relinquish CONTROL every now and then. It's gotta be a two way street.


Favorite quote: "When I am actively listening, when I make it my business to simply follow my partner's lead, I am empowering him. I am giving my leader the gift of respect and attention. I'm doing him the favor of not behaving like I'm his teacher, or worse, his mother. If a guy wants me to spin myself around doing fancy moves so he looks good on the dance floor when his lead hasn't earned it, he is in effect asking me to dance alone. And then, why do I need him?"


Four stars because some of the exercises didn't interest me much (I am so not dancing with a shopping cart!) and there were some stories towards the end I didn't see the point of, but I found this book to be a real eye opener and I see what I am doing wrong in my own relationship.


I received an ARC of this from the publisher.

Thieves Get Rich, Saints Get Shot by Jodi Compton

This is a sequel to Hailey's War. Hailey was once a West Point cadet with high aspirations, but the discovery of a brain tumor got her kicked out of the military and a sequence of really mucked up life events has led to Hailey being a gang banger with a missing finger and no capacity for fear... that last bit is due to the brain tumor. The scrapes Hailey gets into, such as locking herself in the trunk of the car of the guy who cut her finger off could be considered brave... but Hailey wonders if she can't feel fear, how can she be brave? Deep thoughts there.

Why I love this chick: 1. She rides a motorcycle. 2. She's fights and shoots better than a dude. 3. She's friendly with the Latin community. 4. She's about duty and honor despite the fact she runs with a tough playas and hijacks pharmacy trucks.  She's just a very angry woman. I mean, how many of us ladies have been filled and rage and hit the point where we are sick of it all.... Hailey's sick of it all and it's no wonder why as this latest installment has an impostor running around killing cops and pinning the blame on Hailey..
Hailey must clear her name, confront a man who did her great harm, and rethink the path she is on. And another chick plays a huge role in this book, bad ass gang banger and head of the female thug life: Serena.

And.. is there a potential new love interest???

Five stars. No lack of excitement and a very strong heroine. There was nothing to not like about this one.

Velva Jean Learns to Fly by Jennifer Niven

First of all, I didn't read the first one, Velva Jean Learns to Drive. There was nothing in a premise about a girl learning to drive a truck and sing in the Grand Ole Opry that appealed to me. However, I must read any women in aviation book I can get my hands on, especially concerning the WASP, the Women Air Service Pilots. So I got my hands on this one thanks to LibraryThing and despite the fact I didn't know much about Johnny Clay, Harley, or the history of Velva Jean, I loved it. 

The book begins with a Velva Jean driving her yellow truck away from her husband and family. She don't like being tied down. She's not cut out to be a preacher's wife... she has dreams that extend beyond her little town. She's gonna make it big in Nashville and sing. She thinks, however, that a business card given to her long ago is gonna lead to fame and fortune, but the entire city of Nashville is filled with wanna be country singers... Velva Jean doesn't make it big, but she makes some terrific friends while trying to.


And then thanks to her brother is going to be a paratrooper and head off to war, she learns to fly and her dreams of being a singer are replaced for the moment with dreams of being a pilot. And she joins the WASP despite the fact she never made it past 8th grade and is only 19 years old. She excells, she flys to Mexico for a quickie divorce, she finds love again only to lose it, she makes friends and watches them die... and she sings the entire time even if there is no one there to hear her. 


Velva Jean is a remarkable character. She has thoughts that make me stop and think myself.. and ponder things I've never pondered before. Like the blues....


"Right now I had the kind (of blues) he (Daddy Hoyt) called the Gentle and Wholesome Blues-not the type, like the Mean Devil Blues, that made you kick the door or break someone's window. The Gentle ones were quieter, but they were just about the worst kind because they sat around you and on you and in you, just like a headache or a bad winter cold, and wouldn't leave you alone."


Or being told you can't do something...


"If there was one thing I hated in this world, it was folks who told you that you couldn't do something. That was worse than being told you shouldn't do it. I knew she meant well, but a person had to believe in herself even when no one else did."


The baggage we carry...


"The more things that happened to me, the more I thought it was like carrying a suitcase-you kept adding things to it.........You just started adding these things to your suitcase until the case got heavier. You still had to carry it around wherever you went, and even if you set it down for a while you still had to pick it up again because it belonged to you and so did everything inside it."


I felt myself growing up with Velva Jean. I only have quibble, but not a big enough quibble to take away a single star. Velva Jean ends up on the cover of Life magazine. Though I know this is historical fiction, I felt this was kinda wrong cause every WASP fan knows that Shirley Slade was on the cover of that magazine and I kinda felt that putting VJ in her spot wasn't right. It's not Velva Jean's accomplishment, but Shirley Slade's. 


Favorite quotes:


"Some fellas have a hard time with the fact that women can do the same thing they can, and better even."


"Women pilots are a weapon waiting to be used."


"When it comes down to it these women are perfectly capable of flying combat missions. After all, when aroused, women make the nastiest fighters."


Hell yea!!!!!