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Melinda P

Melinda P

I'm averaging almost a book a day (mostly romance) and a movie a day as well - I finally started keeping track of my reviews on a blog: http://auntrowena.blogspot.com/

I'm a PBS swapper: http://chiricahuagal.paperbackswap.com

I'm an AAR Shelfari Member too. That's All About Romance, a popular website for romance... more »
  • Baton Rouge, LA, USA
  • member since May 6 2008

Reviews

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Displaying 1-10 of 16 reviews
  • The Private Eye (Harlequin Single Title)
    • Rated 3 stars

    “.”

    Melinda P wrote this review Wednesday, September 3 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Duchess By Night
    • Rated 5 stars

    “This was my introduction to author Eloisa James, and I don't know what took me so long! I really enjoyed it. Even though it's the 3rd in the Desperate Duchesses series, and usually I prefer to read in order, I lucked into this book and read it first - and I'm glad I did. I found it witty and amusing, and a totally fresh way of dealing with a heroine who dresses in men's clothing - not because she's a hoyden, but to protect her reputation. It was a 5-star read for me, and I'll be looking for the rest of the series!”

    Melinda P wrote this review Thursday, August 7 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Sea Swept: The Chesapeake Bay Saga #1 (Chesapeake Bay Mysteries)
    • Rated 5 stars

    “This is the first of the Quinn brothers' stories. It started as a trilogy, and if you are just starting out, you'll be glad to know Nora Roberts did write Seth's story later, as the 4th in the series.

    This one is my favorite of the three - something about Cam and Anna just really did it for me. The book is practically dripping in testosterone the way Roberts writes it - Cam is all alpha male (with a marshmallow core). Luckily for Cam, Anna is every inch his match - she can take it, and she can dish it out when necessary!

    It contains in intriguing mystery which isn't solved in this book - you'll have to read all 3 of the first books to find out what is what - and a wonderful quasi-paranormal visit from the Quinns' adoptive father that will have you wondering with Cam if it's all in his head, or maybe there is help from beyond...

    I enjoyed the story, the mystery, the romance, the characterizations - Nora Roberts is truly a master at writing engaging stories.”

    Melinda P wrote this review Monday, July 14 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Inner Harbor: The Chesapeake Bay Saga #3 (Quinn Brothers (Paperback))
    • Rated 5 stars

    “Of the 3 older Quinn brothers, Phillip started out as my least favorite. His life, his control, everything about him was too - refined, or maybe just too yuppie for my tastes. He liked to dress well and drink fine wines. But he was always there when the brothers needed him in the earlier books - a full partner.

    The heroine Sybill creeped me out at first - I started skimming ahead, worried and edgy about what her secrets were. Lucky for us readers, we find out before the Quinns do (so we can relax and read!). While not completely bad, she's got some serious 'splaining to do about her behavior and motivations!

    In the end, though, this book had the most touching and romantic HEA of the trilogy, and I was grinning through my tears for them. Still, Sea Swept is my favorite - now I have to get Seth's story!”

    Melinda P wrote this review Monday, July 14 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Rising Tides (HC/DJ)
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I loved all three books in this trilogy, but Sea Swept was my favorite. I love how Nora Roberts writes men - and I also like how she described Grace's toddler, with such typical gestures and actions. The hero Ethan was a tough nut to crack, and the heroine Grace was up to the task of cracking his hard skull! Plus, the continuing story of young Seth, Ray Quinn's latest rescue, was touching -but if you want the rest of the story, you have to read the entire series!”

    Melinda P wrote this review Monday, July 14 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Only Love
    • Rated 5 stars

    “There's something about Elizabeth Lowell's writing - sometimes I love it and sometimes I don't.

    In Only Love, it worked for me and I loved it. It was slightly over-the-top dramatic, and she works in a lot of ol' timey sayings that have you rolling your eyes - but still, I took the leap and went on the journey with Shannon and Rafe, loving every step. By the way, Lowell's love scenes are so steamy I had to keep wiping my reading glasses to go on, and not just because I was imagining myself in that steamy hot spring cave.

    Of the 4 in this series, the only other one I really loved was the first, Only His, the story of Willow Moran and Caleb Black. I think it makes the stories more fun to read them all, in order, so you get everyone's backstory and how they are involved. But I wasn't particularly taken with either of the other 2 heroines (Only You and Only Mine) and since they don't figure strongly in this book, I'll skip them on future rereads.

    Overall, this one is a keeper for me.”

    Melinda P wrote this review Tuesday, July 8 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Your Scandalous Ways
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I loved this book! I find Loretta Chase's writing complex and layered, and at the same time it's still light and witty and terribly romantic. It was fun watching an experienced courtesan and an experienced rogue find something fresh and new in falling in love. I found the secondary characters fun and well developed.

    Chase writes wonderfully steamy love scenes as well. The suspense plot was intriguing without being dark - overall, I found it a fun read and a definite keeper.”

    Melinda P wrote this review Tuesday, July 8 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Lola Carlyle Reveals All (Avon Light Contemporary Romances)
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I'm conflicted about Lola Carlyle Reveals All - I wanted to like it more, but frankly I found Lola to be bimbo material. I didn't feel much sympathy for her recovering-bulimic status and her rat of a dog. I thought she made too many bimbo decisions. Of course, those decisions drove the story, so without them, it would have been a very short book, I guess.

    I found Max slightly more likable but not much - and I chalked his deciding Lola was brave and courageous up to his having fallen too hard in love with her to see the truth.

    I've read almost all of Gibson's books now, and this is not one of her better ones, in my opinion. She writes scorching hot love scenes, and inserts some laugh-out-loud moments as well as touching ones. But I like to be able to feel what the characters are feeling, and I just couldn't quite do it in this story. The numerous typos throughout the book didn't help me - the wrong verb tenses and misspelled words jerked me out of the story several times. Where was her editor?

    However, I still gave it 4 stars because it was better than average. Maybe it's because I loved Gibson's True Confessions so much more, which I just finished the day before... Maybe my expectations were just too high.”

    Melinda P wrote this review Friday, July 4 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Leaving Normal (Mira Romance)
    • Rated 2 stars

    “I was interested in this book because of the topic: romantic life after 40. After getting it based on the A- rating from All About Romance, I was thoroughly disappointed in "Leaving Normal". The book needs an active editor overseeing a major rewrite. There was so much bad grammar and and so many misspelled/misused words, it was hard for me to concentrate on the story line. It didn't help that the author didn't seem 100% certain where the story was going, exactly - it seemed to jump all over the place, like reading the mind of someone with ADD. I kept thinking, "Huh?? Where are we going??"

    Her metaphors were wonky and meaningless - handwriting that couldn't find its way out of a paper bag?? Huh?? There were an incredible number of cliches. There was so much unnecessary "product placement" in the text - store names, brand names, TV shows - that the story is already dated. None of it added anything to character development or plot. I just kept wondering over and over where she was going - and finished the book still wondering... Ok, I got the gist of it: heroine over 40, younger hero, happy ending - what were all the rest of those words in this book about?

    The AAR review talked about the hero being so refreshing, with his unassuming confidence and lack of ego. Now, how did we know that? Because the author kept telling us, over and over - he was unassuming, he was confident, he had no ego, he was a gorgeous hunk with women falling all over him but hey, he didn't care about them because he had no ego. The author seemed to miss that all-important plot-writing point: show don't tell, because she just kept telling us and telling us and...

    I guess I've been spoiled by better romance books, and was expecting better characters, better plot, better writing from a book with an A- rating from AAR (sorry Lea!). I know we all get something different out of every book. For me, Leaving Normal was a disappointment and a waste of time, mostly because it had the bones of a good story but wasn't ready to be published.”

    Melinda P wrote this review Thursday, June 26 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Devil's Bride
    • Rated 1 stars

    “I know I'm in the minority, but this went into my DNF pile (did not finish). Her writing style was driving me nuts - all the incomplete sentences, the phrases and clauses related to and coming from the sentence before, but separated by a period and often also by a paragraph. I just couldn't keep reading it, not because it was grammatically incorrect but because it jarred me out of the story. I felt like I was missing something and had to go back and re-read the sentence before to follow the line of thought. Some authors can make this type of rule-breaking in writing work to increase tension or make a point, but for me it was a deal breaker. There are too many other books to read to feel the need to keep plowing through one I'm not enjoying.”

    Melinda P wrote this review Thursday, June 26 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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