(The Montgomerys and Armstrongs #1)

Author: Maya Banks

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Release Date: 9/25/12

Genre: Historical Romance

Source: Edelweiss

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author’s Website: www.mayabanks.com

Description

As a way to bring two rival clans together the king has ordered that Graeme Montgomery, laird to the Montgomery clan, marry Eveline Armstrong, laird to the Armstrong clan’s only daughter. Everyone believes Eveline to be daft or touched, not all there, because of a fall that occurred a few years before but that’s not the case at all. She’s deaf, not daft, yet she can still understand what people say by reading their lips, but she’s happy with her life so she doesn’t correct anyone. Now that she’ll be marrying Graeme though, she’ll have a totally new way of life to learn, and a whole clan of people that hate her to deal with.  

Graeme is not happy with his chosen wife. He wanted a family and a wife who could be his lover and friend and give him children, but now that won’t happen because he’s been ordered to marry a woman who’s not all there. But once he gets to know her, he learns her secret and finds out that his dream of a real family can come true and he may even learn to love his extraordinary wife because she is just that special.

Now that they both have a chance at a happy fulfilling life, they must convince their clans of that too and worry about an enemy who wants it all ended. Can they bring their enemy families together and can Eveline win the love of Graeme’s clan or are they forever doomed to live with this hatred for the rest of their lives?

Review

This was a really beautiful story! Maya has outdone herself with this book, it’s even better than her other three historicals combined. :) With her brilliant writing style and incredibly lovable characters, it’s impossible to not be sucked into this story and fall in love with the characters.

Graeme is one of my very favorite heroes I’ve ever read before. He’s kind and caring towards his clan and fiercely loyal to his people. And with Eveline, *sigh* he’s such a wonderful man to her. He had every right to be angry and hate her, but he welcomed her with open arms and tried to make sure his clan did the same. And when they didn’t, which is so terrible, he makes sure they know exactly what will happen to them if it happens to her again. And Eveline, she is such a brave woman with more spirit than she knows what to do with. Instead of feeling sorry for herself when she was stuck with a clan she knows hates her and taken from her family, she held her head high and worked as hard as ever to try and earn their love and loyalty and when they just treat her like the lowest of the low she gets back up and keeps trying. Both of these characters are more than just great characters, they’re inspirational, they’re everything good in life and set a great example for how every person should be towards everyone. Together they melt the pages too. Whew, those love scenes were so sweet and sexy. Some of Maya’s best work is in this book. Trust me, I know. ;)

I also enjoyed all of the secondary characters, specifically Rory, Graeme’s sister and both his brothers and Eveline’s brothers. I can’t wait to see what Maya does with them. I really hope they each get their own books because they’re all drool worthy too. ;) As for Graeme’s clan members, well I wish I could jump into the book and strangle them for some of the awful things they did to poor Eveline, who didn’t deserve it but at least they made up for it when it counted.

All in all, this was a fantastic read! Plenty of lovable characters, a little action, a little drama and lots of sweet love scenes (which make the book extra good in my opinion). I give this book 5 Moons and I recommend it to all Maya Banks fans for sure and those who love Historical Romance and even some Contemporary fans will love it too! :) Now I have to be patient for the next book to release….

(Offspring 5.6) 

Author: Jaime Rush

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: 9/11/12

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Source: ARC provided by Edelweiss

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author’s Website: http://jaimerush.com/

Description

Shea has been taking care of herself for years now and even when she got a little bit of help from a group of guys that call themselves the D'Rats, she still only depended on herself thanks to a traumatic event in her past that has her never trusting anyone more than she has to. Having special powers makes it a little bit easier to get by but it's still pretty lonely. 

Greer thought of Shea as nothing more than a little sister until the day he walked in and saw what she's hiding under her big baggy clothes. Ever since then he's wanted her, bad! And he doesn't just want to sleep with her, he wants everything, which could be a bad thing considering he holds the darkness and that can make a man very possessive. But Shea isn't opening up, instead she's moved out of their house and closed herself off from him. 

When danger finds Shea, and all of the guys too, Greer steps in to help her but there's another threat now. Someone close to them has done something terrible and is going to try to again. Together they fight the darkness that is after them and in the process end up unlocking a passion that they just can't live without.

Review

WOW! I loved this book! It's that simple and if I could just leave it at that, I would! It's packed full of action, mystery and some smokin' HOT lovin'! I'm more than impressed with this novella and I hope beyond hope that Jaime will give us at least one more...because well, there is at least one more character who is so lonely. ;) *Hint Hint* 

I've followed the Offspring series since the very first book and I've invested a lot of time into reading them all so I'm always super excited when I get a new story. This one is kind of an extension of the last Novella in the series, The Darkness Within, and I've been dying to read this one ever since I finished the other one. That last one featured Del and Tucker and this one features Tucker's brother Greer and Shea, who are both part of the D'Rats group. I liked The Darkness Within, but I liked this one SO much better. Why, because Greer is an amazing hero, sweet, charming, totally sexy and more than a little alpha and Shea is quite the woman, she can really kick some ass! Together, they make the perfect couple!

I loved the dynamics between the two main characters. Greer with his darkness made things a little tricky because of what comes with that darkness but he still manages to get past it and go after the woman he wants, whether she wants him to or not. And Shea, goodness the poor girl went through hell and back so it's no wonder that Greer has to fight so hard to get her to come around. But when she does, it's the sweetest and sexiest coming together I've read in quite some time.

It was really great to get a little update on Tucker and Del too and the other D'Rats. I was a little upset with the twist thrown in, you'll have to read it to find out, but I got over it. It was very sad though to find out what happens but a necessary twist for the book to work so it all evens out in the end.

Overall this book is a great read and I would definitely recommend it to all Offspring fans, as well as lovers of Paranormal Romance too, but you should know when starting this one, you should at least read the novella that came before it so you don't get lost and so you don't miss that fantastic story. I give this book 5 Moons and I'm impatiently waiting to see if we will get another story from this series. I truly hope so because it really is a great series! Now go pre-order and fall in love with the Offspring!