First Reads 3 & 4

3rd & 4th First Reads completed for this years challenge.  

Elizabeth Boyle

  'Along Came A Duke (Rhymes with Love, #1)'  - 5/5 stars 1st read by Boyle and I was thoroughly entertained all the way to the end.  I had many laugh out loud moments.  Boyle's had me clamoring for more.  Preston has me enchanted and Tabby is a jewel full of non lady like qualities for the ton.  Which has me loving her all the more.  Now her relations earned the dubious pleasure of being despised.


Along Came a Duke by Elizabeth Boyle. . . "A young lady with a fortune is subject to all sorts of untoward attentions by the worst sort of vagrants." Aunt Allegra

A lesson Tabitha Timmons, a penniless spinster, has never needed to heed. That is, until she is left a vast fortune payable only upon her marriage to the very respectable Mr. Barkworth--a match that offers little chance of discovering exactly what her aunt means by "untoward attentions."

But the same can't be said when the Duke of Preston happens along Tabitha's path. He spies a rebellious streak in her that matches his own and he makes it his mission to save her from such a passionless match, interfering in her life at every turn. All too soon, Preston--whose very name spells ruin--has Tabitha caught between the good fortune that guarantees her security, and his kiss, which promises an entirely different kind of happily-ever-after.

Nora Roberts

  'Blood Brothers (Sign of Seven, #1)' - 1st read by Roberts and the rating I gave this book has nothing to do with the acclaim she has in the romance world. I have several of her books but have not read one until today. I believe it has to do with the fact that it has touches of paranormal linked to it. 

I have to admit that through the first few chapters I was losing my interest. But then things began to progress. I will completed the remainder of this series in the next day or two. The threesome romance is something that will unfold over the course of all the books with a more focus on each in a separate book.

I loved it for the funny, adventure, intrigue, mystery, history, and richness that it brings to the table. Roberts did a good job of activating my mind and intertwining myth and history of the new world witch hunts.

Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts. . . Every seven years, there comes a week in July when the locals do unspeakable things--and then don't seem to remember them. The collective madness has made itself known beyond the town borders and has given Hawkins Hollow the reputation of a village possessed. This modern-day legend draws reporter and author Quinn Black to Hawkins Hollow with the hope of making the eerie happening the subject of her new book. It is only February, but Caleb Hawkins, descendent of the town founders, has already seen and felt the stirrings of evil. Though he can never forget the beginning of the terror in the woods twenty-one years ago, the signs have never been this strong before. Cal will need the help of his best friends, Fox and Gage, but surprisingly he must rely on Quinn as well. She too, can see the evil that the locals cannot, somehow connecting her to the town--and to Cal. As winter turns to spring, Cal and Quinn will shed their inhibitions, surrendering to a growing desire. They will form the cornerstone of a group of men and women bound by fate, passion, and the fight against what is to come from out of the darkness...

I am not a professional reviewer.  These are just my personal opinions.