Review: Colters’ Lady by Maya Banks

Colters’ Lady (Colters’ Legacy, book 2) by Maya Banks

Genre: Contemporary Romance (Erotica)

Can their love give her the strength to overcome the tragedy in her past?

When police officer Seth Colter sees the delicate, shabbily dressed beauty in line at the soup kitchen where he’s serving, he’s gut shot over the idea of her being on the streets cold and alone. More baffling is the dark, possessive instinct that tells him she belongs to him.

For Lily Weston, home is a secluded nook in a back alley—until Seth offers her a place to stay. She’s wary of his offer, but even one night out of the cold is too much temptation to resist.

Seth is convinced Lily is his. The problem is, when his brothers lay eyes on her, the same primitive instinct comes roaring to the surface. The Colters never imagined they’d follow the unconventional path of their fathers, but they can’t ignore their mutual need to offer Lily their protection—and their love. But before Lily and the brothers can forge a future together, they must heal the deep wounds of her past.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, multiple partners, ménage a quatre, violence.

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Review:

With the first book, Colters’ Woman, it felt as if the sex scenes took over and left the remaining plot threads unwoven.  I wanted to feel like the plot and the resulting sex actually went together, instead of the book relying on the foursome. The promise was there for the first book, and I wanted to hold onto that promise.

Lily has been living on the streets in Denver for three years.  She's just trying to survive and forget the sins of her past.  That’s when Officer Seth steps in to save Lily.  Immediately he knows she's the one for him and he's taking care of her no matter what.  Then Seth's other two brothers (Dillon and Michael) meet her, and none of them want to live with out her.

Now, I'll be the first to admit they hook up pretty quick in this book.  But things are handled much better then the first one.  The three brothers never thought they would all share the same woman, and they actually have a tough time accepting it.  For the page count, I think Banks did an excellent enough job. (After all there's a certain amount of un-reality you have to expect with a 4 way love story.) 

The crowning point for this story was that characters from the old books were involved.  The Dad's (Adam, Ethan, and Ryan), Holly (leading lady from the last book), and three brothers' sister Cassie.  Even other side characters had roles to play.  It was completely heartwarming seeing the dynamics of the family and I appreciated developing other characters besides the 4 main ones.  Namely Cassie, by the time the book was over I was beyond ready for her tale.

In the end this isn't perfect, it's a short book and it's an unrealistic fantasy.  Knowing all this Maya Banks pulls Colter's Lady off wonderfully.  Lily falls in love with the brothers, and deals with her pasts horrors so that we can really be involved with the love story. (In fact, I cried really hard at Lily’s past and her “sins.”)  Each brother has a unique personality and this time I could actually pick a favorite (Dillon!).  The reader gets to enjoy the family dynamics of such a crazy family and get to see their favorite characters again.

Sexual content:  Explicit sex, multiple partners, graphic language, and foursomes!!

Rating: 4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.

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Add it:

Amazon: Colters' Lady (Colters' Legacy)

Goodreads: Colters' Lady

Review: Duke of Shadows

The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

From exotic sandstone palaces...


Sick of tragedy, done with rebellion, Emmaline Martin vows to settle quietly into British Indian society. But when the pillars of privilege topple, her fiancé's betrayal leaves Emma no choice. She must turn for help to the one man whom she should not trust, but cannot resist: Julian Sinclair, the dangerous and dazzling heir to the Duke of Auburn.

To the marble halls of London...

In London, they toast Sinclair with champagne. In India, they call him a traitor. Cynical and impatient with both worlds, Julian has never imagined that the place he might belong is in the embrace of a woman with a reluctant laugh and haunted eyes. But in a time of terrible darkness, he and Emma will discover that love itself can be perilous -- and that a single decision can alter one's life forever.

Destiny follows wherever you run.

A lifetime of grief later, in a cold London spring, Emma and Julian must finally confront the truth: no matter how hard one tries to deny it, some pasts cannot be disowned...and some passions never die.

Thoughts:

The majority of this book takes place in India and then the rest in London. After reading the authors site apparently regency romances usually don't take place in beautiful India. British influence in India is not a part in history I've really pondered, so it was absolute fun that this book takes place in such an occasion in history. Though the events may not have been much fun for our characters.

The lovely Emmaline Martin survives her voyage to India after her ship sinks and she is the only surviver. Some fisherman save her and deliver her safely. On arrival the British Indian society constantly nag and rub in her questionable virtue, as if the fact that she survived such an ordeal was shameful. After surviving this Emma doesn't want to waist her life listening to the ton, worrying about her what society thinks, she's a surviver. Her eyes are now open and she doesn't want to go back. She's confronting her long time cheating fiancée and is taking her life back. Dipping into a little free will. Emma is a well educated woman and she's not going to hide it. Now the daring Emma is falling for the mysterious Sinclair, who is part British and native—the forbidden hot stuff. A revolution is happening in India, British power is being questioned. Soon Emma will be in the middle of it, a refugee in a strange land.

Emma was a fantastic character. After her life and death experience she's not ready to conform to the trivial confinements of society. I love how she's testing the water, breaking out of the confines of being a woman in her time. Emma is sensible, thinks things through, and just doesn't allow things to sweep her of her feet in the heat of a moment. (Namely our sizzling Duke!) After the scarring experiences she went through to escape from India to get back to Britain, I was a little restless with her new self. She was a little off, no longer my smart and sassy Lady. Sadly, she sunk back a little into her role in Society. Even when she displays controversial paintings of what she witnessed in India. She's scared, which is understandable. Of course with the help of the Duke, she'll snap out of it!

Julian Sincliar, the Duke of Auburn, is a very interesting male lead. He's a man who belongs to both British and Indian society, but both do not want to acknowledge him. British society has made him out to be a rake, everyone knows his scandalous exploits. As we get to know Julian, most of the rumors seem to come with the package of being mixed breeding. Julian ends up being a pretty deep guy. He doesn't hate either societies for hating him, but tries to help preserve both. Which is just a bonus to the tall, dark, and handsome thing he's got going on.

In the case of plot, I'm not sure what I was expecting. It's a romance. Deep down I think I was expecting the usual, maybe a good plot and lots of sex scenes. Instead there are about two sex scenes and then a lot of plot. The sexual tension slowly builds as the attraction comes a long for our couple. I'm wondering if the plot in this book is really out going for the genre? (As this is my first title for Historical Romance.) There was a devious fiancée, a revolution in a foreign country, assassination attempts, and dirty war far. Lots of soap opera drama for our couple, Julian thinks Emma died in India and Emma thinks Julian didn't mean a word and dropped her flat after he got what he wanted.

The writing was awesome! I felt like I was in that era, the writing never felt like I was reading 20th century style trying to pull of regency. It all felt authentic, including the dialogue. I am now officially a fan of the wit of regency books. Insults are so elegant. It's like the French guy from the matrix says, “It's like wiping your bottom with silk.” Though not quite in those words.

Bottom Line:

I loved this book, regency is something I'm coming back to visit. For a first time reader of this genre I think this is a great place to start, I might even venture to say that some long time readers will like it. The plot really shocked me, as I came into this genre thinking that the plot might accompany the sex scenes. This book is rich in everything that a reader is looking for. The dark chocolate of the book world—the kind of dark chocolate you hide under your bed and savor it bit by bit! Plus Julian has got to be one of the hottest, well fleshed out guys (oh, yes pun intended), I've read that doesn't have fur or fangs. This couple didn't need to convince me that they were in love, the author does it all beautifully.

Sexual Content:

Two scenes, which are pretty mild.

5/5- Fabulous, a beautiful obsession.

Colters' Woman

Colters' Woman by Maya Banks

Adam, Ethan and Ryan aren't looking for women. They're looking for a woman. One woman to share their lives and their beds. They don't want a casual romp in the hay, they want the woman who will complete them and they're losing hope of finding her. That is until Adam finds Holly lying in the snow just yards from their cabin. He knows shes different the minute he holds her in his arms. But before Adam gets his hopes up, he knows he has to gauge his brothers reactions. Soon its evident that shes the one. There are a few problems, however convincing her she belongs with them and keeping her safe from the man who wants her dead. Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language, menage a quatre, violence.

Thougthts:

After reading this book, I can firmly say this book is not a good introduction into contemporary romance genre. Mind you I spent a lot of time in researching what titles I would read to take my first steps into this new and uncharted genre. (At least for me.)

Banks had fantastic reviews and many readers even stated that she had smooth and depth to her writing. Apparently something that hard to find in Contemporary Romance? Plus, the sheer thought of a book with more then one hot guy crushing on the girl, and they're all straight, just lead the way.

So first off. When I picked up this title I assumed that the book would build up the love. I've been reading nothing but PNR, so I figured that the contemporary genre would be more realistic. You know none of that at a glance hot lust and pants jumping. To my disappointment, within a few pages all three of the male leads are lusting after her, they've decided she's the one, and they will have her. All like that. No build up, no actual thoughts were taken during this process.

At least the leading lady, Holly, has some hesitations about the guys. She's pretty much on board with the idea after a really winning pep talk from the guys. She holds off for a bit because the last guy she “loved” and trusted killed a man on their wedding night. Now he wants her dead. So she's a little hard up for passing out the love. All of the boys at one point make comments about how much of life she's seen and how hard she's had it. For all of that, Holly is pretty dense. She doesn't think that her evil husband may have been targeting her because she has a vast inheritance. In fact, the majority of the time I felt like Holly's thoughts never really when deeper then artificial. There were times when she was trying to figure out handle being in a relationship with three guys. Those were the moments I loved this book, controversy.

The yummy brothers all fit the standard stereo type man candy of any book. Adam, the serious and poorly misunderstood guy. Even though he seems mean and angry and might kill you. If your one of the people he loves he's there for you. Ethan, is the funny jokster who holds the group together. No matter how much the other guys scare the shit out of Holly, he's there to smooth things out. Ryan is our tortured soul, who will only open up to his lady love. So there they all are. Personally I didn't find any thing else about them that really stuck out or made them different. They all live together and work a hunter's lodge.

The boys are raised in a family were they have three fathers and one mum. (Who we get to meet at the end of the book.) So I can see how they all expect to find the one woman for all of them. Personally I didn't feel it, no doubts or second thoughts plagued the lads. I wished that Banks would have fleshed it out a bit more. So it felt like it wasn't just some idea thought up for a foursome.

Banks got ambitious though, I loved the killer husband idea. Holly has to deal with basically a Mafia type guy and finally has to grow up and realize the problem won't go away. Becoming tougher, slightly more able to take care of herself. Plus I like the fact that the killer husband issue is solved legally instead of him buried in some backyard and a huge secret floating over their heads.

Another thing that constantly annoyed the heck out of me was pussy. Every love scene, really every page, seems to be trashed by the word. I've never really thought that it was erotic, and in general I'm just not fond of it. In general I didn't really think that the love scenes were very good, in fact it was hotter with just one brother at a time.

Bottom line:

This was probably not the best place to start in the contemporary side of romance, but it was fun. I enjoyed the three stereotypical brothers, and the dialogue was pretty witty. For the majority of the book I was giggling, which was the highest part of the entertainment value for me. The author tried to take it a step further and put in a nice suspense with a evil husband Holly is trying to run away from.

Sexual Content:

Foursomes and lots of different twists. Very explicate.

2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out

Sunday Sweets

This is a fun meme hosed over at The Story Siren, In My Mailbox. This allows everyone to see what books you got for the week!

This past week I've ordered a lot of books online. Sadly only one has come so far.

This one is from Overstock. Indeed it's a Manga, I feel kinda of annoyed because it's volume 10. I've only read up to volume 4.

I've been ordering from Overstock from years, and one of my biggest fears is that they would not send  me a book. After all I make huge orders when I buy from them, and errors are bound to happen. Strangely enough an error has occurred. They sent me an extra book!

Funny thing, it's a Historical Romance. So I got a little freebie to try out for my Romance Experiment, which I am so excited. The first few pages of the book are pretty good and the description isn't bad! Gotta love free books!

Hope everyone had a good book week!

Wednesday Wishes and the Romance Experiment

This follows BBC weekly meme, My Wishlist.

This Wednesday Wishes I'll be sharing my Wishlist, plus the books I have picked and orderd for the Romance challenge. (Which you can check out by clicking on the link in my right side bar.) So this Wishlist is very long winded at the end.


Rise of the Poison Moon (Jennifer Scales, #5)
by MaryJanice Davidson, Anthony Alongi
Jennifer Scales is a were-dragon with a fiery temper-but a warm heart.

Jennifer's ex-boyfriend, werarachnid Skip Wilson, is out of control. His powers have grown as strong as his hunger for revenge, leaving her little choice but to confront him-hopefully without giving in to her own dark side...

Face Off (Laura Blackstone, #2)
by Mark Del Franco

Laura Black is a druid who can change her appearance. She is both the Fey Guild's public relations director and a secret agent for the International Security Agency. And now she'll have to choose where her loyalties lie when a political war breaks out between the fey and human populations...

Demon from the Dark (Immortals After Dark, #10)
by Kresley Cole

A dangerous demon she can't resist...


Malkom Slaine: tormented by his sordid past and racked by vampiric hungers, he's pushed to the brink by the green-eyed beauty under his guard.


A maddening witch he aches to claim...


Carrow Graie: hiding her own sorrows, she lives only for the next party or prank. Until she meets a tortured warrior worth saving.


Trapped together in a savage prison...


For them to survive, Malkom must unleash both the demon and vampire inside him. When he becomes the nightmare his own people feared, will he lose the woman he craves body and soul?

The Iron Thorn (Iron Codex, #1)
by Caitlin Kittredge

A series set in a Lovecraftian industrial city in an alternate 1950s that centers on a mechanically gifted young girl approaching her 16th birthday, the age at which everyone in her family goes insane, leaving it up to her to unravel the mystery of their madness--and save the world.


It is 1955...but not the 1955 you know. The Witchcraft Scare polarizes America. Magic is outlawed and practitioners are burned. And one girls has discovered that magic is neither fiction nor fairy tale, but very much alive...


Aoife Grayson is a month shy of sixteen, the age when everyone in her family goes mad. An orphan in the steam-powered city of Lovecraft, Massachusetts, Aoife escapes the confines of her repressive boarding school and along with her best friend Sam and outlaw guide Dean, sets out to discover the secret of her family's madness. What she discovers is a world of forbidden magic and faerie curses, and a dark secret that has shadowed the Grayson family for generations. Aoife must choose between keeping the secret or keeping her sanity, and unravel the dark machinations of the Winter Court of the Fae before it's too late to save her city...or herself.

Read an excerpt of this on the authors site, loooooved it.

Sanctuary (Red Rock Pass, #1-2)
by Moira Rogers (Goodreads Author)

A print volume containing CRY SANCTUARY and  SANCTUARY LOST.


Dark Oracle (Oracle, #1)
by Alayna Williams

Can an oracle change the future she sees?


Tara Sheridan swore off criminal profiling years ago. By combining Tarot card divination with her own intuition, she narrowly escaped the grasp of a serial killer who left her scarred for life. She put down her cards and withdrew from work and society. Now, Sophia, a member of an ancient secret society connected to the mythic Delphic Oracle, asks Tara to find a missing scientist who has unlocked the destructive secrets of dark energy. Tara resists— she fears reawakening her long-buried talents and blames Sophia’s Daughters of Delphi for the death of her mother. But, grudgingly, she agrees to search for the missing scientist, Lowell Magnusson.


Tara travels to Las Alamos National Laboratory, the location of Magnusson’s disappearance. She meets the serious, impatient, and highly attractive Agent Harry Li— and re-encounters her old partner, Richard Corvus. Corvus is now chief of the Special Projects Division, a position Tera might have held, had she not dropped out of investigative work. Corvus considers Tara mentally imbalanced and not to be trusted— but it may be Corvus who is untrustworthy.


Tara’s investigation and Tarot cards tell her Magnusson’s daughter, Cassie, may hold the key to her father’s plans, and that they both are in grave danger. Meanwhile, Corvus and the Daughters of Delphi have their own plans...and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Romance Challenge

Now I really thought about the books I wanted to try out for the Romance Challenge I've joined. I even went as far as to look at lots of recommendations, blogs, browsed Amazon. After finding likely candidates I tracked down excerpts and viewed them. Luckily I didn't have too many duds. The ones you see here are the ones that got me addicted.
Historical:

Historical was the side of Romance I was originally interested in seeing. Once I started to dive in, I didn't realize that the sub genres had sub genres in Romance. Wikipedia has a nice guide (click here), but didn't list all of those sub genres. Luckily it wasn't hard to figure out.  As you can see regency is the one that caught my eye.

Regency

Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, #1)

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

Lord of Scoundrels

The Duke of Shadows

Highlander/Scottish:

Highlander Romance was one I was going to stay away from like the plague. Once upon a time a friend had given me a Highlander Romance because she assumed I would love it. (At the time I had an obsession with the Highlander TV show that had been on.) Sadly that title ruined the whole experience for me.

Then low and behold, Kresely Cole has a Highlander romance out. After reading the first chapter there was no way I could not get this one. If anyone can bring Highlanders to the page, it's her!

If You Dare (MacCarrick Brothers, #1)

Sci/fi:

Holy cow! The sci/fi sub genre of romance was hard to infiltrate. First I couldn't find anything, then the next thing I new I was looking at erotica for it. I almost gave up. Then I remembered a book that had been roaming the wishlists, Touched by an Alien-so that made my list. Close Encounters kept resurfacing a lot after that, finally I gave in and decided that it was pretty good. (Plus the series name rocks!) I'm really picky about sci/fi books, so I really had a hard time choosing the romance side of it.

Touched by an Alien (Katherine "Kitty" Katt,  book 1)

Close Encounters (Alien Affairs, book 1) by Katherine Allred

Western was at the top of my list to read. After searching around I found out there was old western (which was what I was looking for) and Contemporary, or new, western. Even after finding a cool site all about western romances (Love Western Romance) I couldn't find any I liked. After about 12 excerpts, proclaiming defeat was my only option.

After reading a review over at Book Bitch, I decided to read a Contemporary Romance instead. After her awesome review, and an awesome preview of the book, Colter's Woman made the cut. (For Book Bitch's review click here.) I have to admit this is probably a really strange pick for a newbie into romance, but I couldn't resist.

Colter's Woman (Colter's Legacy, book 1) by Maya Banks

Phew! So there is my crazy adventure in what I'd like to call THE ROMANCE EXPERIMENT. Hope you're all enjoying your week!

A Whole New Challenge!

Lately I've been thinking about branching out a little. What's caught my eye is some of the sub genres in romance. Paranormal Romance has had some really good reads to offer lately—and it's where some of my favorite authors have been shelved. (You know Richelle Mead, Jeaniene Frost, Yasmine Galenorn, Jenna Black, JR Ward, Kresely Cole, and too many others.)

What's really pushing this is some titles in Historical Romance, Science Fiction Romance, and even some Western have been catching my eye. After reading some good reviews, and some really awesome excerpts I'm ready to dive in.

The best part is that Book Chick City now has a challenge going for other readers out there who might be interested in the genre. So that long time romance readers, or newbies like me, can enjoy the genre together!

So here's the scoop on the challenge.










Timeline: 1st June 2010~ 30th Sept 2010. Only books started on June 1st count towards this challenge.

Feel free to join in on the challenge if you're interested in branching out your preferences! For additional information or to join the challenge, click here.


My blog is clearly Fantasy and Urban Fantasy (heavy on the UF), I've always been a picky reader and these two genres have always been the only ones that yield good reads for me. For those worried that I might start mixing them up, I will be keeping the reviews separate. If you'll notice on the sidebar there are now two links for reviews.

1. Colters' Woman (Colters' Legacy, Book 1) by Maya Banks
2. The Duke of Shadows by Merideth Duran
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*Update* I have decided that for this challenge I will not be including Paranormal Romance for it. Since quite a few of them could be classified as UF and the few I've read are shelved in with my regular reviews.

I've also picked out some books for the challenge, click here to check them out. *End of Update*